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OLIVER DYER'S 

PHONOGRAPHIC REPORT 

OF THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE 

NATIONAL 

FREE SOIL CONVENTION 

AT BUFFALO, N. Y. 
August 9th and 10th/ 1848. 



COPY RIGHT SECURED ACCORDING TO LAW. 




PUBLISHED BY 

G. H. DERBY & CO. 164 MAIN STREET, BUFFALO: 

ANDREWS & BOYLE, 22 SPRUCE STREET, NEW-YORK: and 

DYER & WEBSTER, 
At the Phonographic Rooms, 66 South Third St Philadelphia. 

• 

Sold at 12 1-2 cts. per copy, or $8 per hundred. 

STEAM PRESS OF JEWETT, THOMAS & CO. 

Commercial Advertiser Buildings. Buffalo. 






NOTE TO EDITORS. 



All editors will be allowed, and are hereby granted permission to extract from the 
following Report to any extent which they may desire, provided they will give due 
credit for the same, and call the attention of their readers, in an express manner through 
their editorial columns, to the enterpr'se in which the subscriber is engaged, viz: the 
Introduction into general vse of the Phonographic system of writing. All editors who 
may conclude to accept the above offer, are respectfully requested to read the paragraph 
below headed " to all who wish to write with the rapidity of speech," in which they 
will rind some important facts, on which they can base such a notice as will greatly aid 
the subscriber and not impoverish or incommode themselves. The subscriber's office 
and publishing house are at the Phonographic Rooms, 66 South Third st, Philadelphia. 

OLIVER DYER. 



TO ALL WHO WISH TO WRITE WITH THE RAPIDITY OF SPEECH. 

" I would give pive hundred dollars if I could write as fast as a public speaker 
usually utters his words." "I would give a thousand dollars, in a minute, if I 
could only report as well as you can." How often have these and similar remarks 
been addressed, to us. Indeed it seems as though the most intense desire is felt by 
almomst the entire (intelligent) community to acquire ''that much-coveted art by 
which the orator's eloquence is caught in its impassioned torrent, and fixed upon paper 
as an image of his rich and glowing mind." People would give hundreds and thou- 
sands of dollars "If they could only report verhatim;" "if they could only write as 
fast as a man speaks in public." How are they to acquire this great accomplishment? 
That is the question. Nothing is more simple. Just enclose one, two, or three dollars, 
post paid, to Dver & Webster, 66 South Third Street, Philadelphia; or to Andrews 
& Boyle, 22 Spruce Street, New- York; and you will receive, by return of mail the 
books necessary to enable you to acquire this useful art. On sending three dollars, 
post paid, to Dyer & Webster, Phonographic Rooms, 66 South Third Street, Phila- 
delphia, you will be furnished with books and such instruction by letter, as will enable 
you, in a very short time, to make the most satisfactory progress in the art of verbatim 
reporting, and accomplishment possessing such great and obvious advantages that it 
cannot be necessary to enlarge upon the desirableness of its acquisition. Who would 
not give three dollars to be able to write with the rapidity of speech? 

OLIVER DYER. 



The following report does not contain all the informal speeches made during the two 
days of the convention. It contains only the regular addresses. Tbere were probably 
fifty informal speeches made during the 8th, 9th and 10th of August. From 8 o'clock 
in the morning till 11 at night persons were continually talking to the assembled multi- 
tudes. These informal speeches were for the most part mere repetitions of each other, 
varying only in anecdotes. All the ideas advanced during the sittings of the Conven- 
tion are contained in the report. 

Some speeches have been condensed, as they were but slightly different in thought 
from others that had been previously reported. We have received valuable, and 
indeed indispensable assistance in making out our report, from Mr. James 0. Brayman, 
one of the most accomplished reporters w T ith whom we have had the good fortune to 
meet. 



PROCEEDINGS 



OF THE 



NATIONAL FREE SOIL CONTENTION. 



FIRST DAY. 



Wednesday, August 9th, 1848 
half past 8 o'clock. 

Long before the hour for the organization of the 
Convention, an immense concourse had assem- 
bled under the tent in the Park to listen to a few 
preliminary remarks and speeches, and encour- 
agements and exhortations to unity, and expres- 
sions of determination "to put the thing through," 
"no giving up," "no compromising," "free 
soil and nothing else." The various speeches 
were received with loud cheers, and excited great 
enthusiasm among the vast assemblage. At 
length it was announced that Giddings was pre- 
sent. No sooner was that name pronounced, than 
a shout of enthusiasm burst forth, such as we 
have seldom heard, and loud cries of " Giddings," 
"Giddings," "Giddings," re-echoed from all 
sides,butto the great disappointment of the assem- 
bly, it was found that Mr. Giddings was not pre- 
sent. 

Mr. Peck, of Connecticut, offered the following 
sentiment for the adoption of the Convention : 

"Let men of the deepest principle manifest the 
most profound condescension, and exercise the deep- 
est humility today, and posterity will honor them for 
the deed." ' 

This sentiment was received with acclamations. 

9 o'clock. 

By this time the concourse had become im- 
mense. Every available seat and foot-hold on 
the ground was occupied. The Ohio delegation 
came into the tent with banners flying, and were 
received with great cheering. The delegation 
was welcomed by Col. Miller, from N. H., in 
a neat and spirit-stirring speech, which was re- 
ceived with applause. 

Mr. Earle, of Worcester, Mass., followed in a 
few remarks which consisted of a repetition of the 
charge against Gen. Taylor, that he [Gen. Tay- 
lor] is opposed to the Wilmot proviso. Mr. 
Earle read from Mr. Botts's address to the peo- 
ple of Virginia to prove this charge. 

Judge Nye, of Madison county, was here called 
for, and came forth amid great cheering. He said 
that he wished to make a few remarks in relation 
to this "Barnburning" movement. He was one 
that had voted for Polk in '44, and he was readv 



to confess that they had been egregiou sly taken in, 
but he trusted that repentance would wipe out their 
transgression. The Northern Democrats made a 
great mistake in '44, when they admitted the two- 
thirds rule. They ought to have met that issue at 
once. [Cries of yes, yes.] Mr. Van Buren re- 
ceived the majority of the votes of that Conven- 
tion, and ought to have been the Democratic can- 
didate for the Presidency. But he was sacrificed 
to the Moloch of Slavery. In '48 the Jeffersonian 
Democracy of the State of New York assembled at 
Utica, to send thirty-six delegates to the Baltimore 
Convention. He was one of the "36." They 
went down there, but the doors of the Convention 
were closed against them. There was another 
band of delegates there from New York, who 
claimed to be Democrats, but they had no more ti- 
tle to the designation than the Devil has to that of 
Christian. [Laughter.] These men were ready 
to bow down and accept the pledge required by the 
South, before it was presented to them. [Ap- 
plause.] Mr. Yancey, of Alabama, said the De- 
mocrats of New York had raised that Union-killing 
question, the "Wilmot Proviso," and they had bet- 
ter be kept out of the Convention, and they were 
kept out. The omnipotent South could carry the 
presidential candidate triumphantly into the chair, 
without the aid of the "little state of New York." 
New York was thrust out of the Convention. She 
had no voice there. She was heard but once, 
when Daniel S. Dickinson, with face elongated to 
its utmost tension, got up and said that if this in- 
dignity should ever be offered to New York again, 
it would excite even the indignation of Hunker- 
ism. [Laughter.] The "36" came home and 
made a regular democratic nomination, and the 
Democracy of New York, and the friends of liber- 
ty thoughout the vast extent of our country were 
rallying to their support. [Cries of yes, yes. You 
shall be supported.] They had nominated the vic- 
tim of the slave power in '44, Martin Van Buren. . 
[Cheers.] 

But he would now speak of another Conven- 
tion. The so-called Whig Convention held at 
Philadelphia. There was another noble son of 
liberty sacrificed upon the altar of slavery. Hen- 
ry Clay — (at the sound of this name the most en- 
thnsiastic cheers burst from the assembly,) the 
old, and tried, and beloved leader of the Whig's, 



FREE SOIL CONVENTION AT BUFFALO 



why was he sacrificed? (A voice, "slavery was 
the cause,") Yes, both the great popular leaders 
of the two parties had been sacrificed to slavery. 
But now the people have taken up the question 
themselves, and they will never rest nor allow the 
country to rest till it shall be definitely settled. — 
The Whigs had nominated Gen. Taylor, who 
was "a Whig but not an Ultra Whig." My 
friends, what would you say of a man who would 
proclaim himself a Christian but not an Ultra 
Christian, "and utterly refuse to be an exponent 
of Christien principles?" (Laughter.) Do you 
think he would be admitted into any respectable 
Church on such a confession of faith? (No, no.) 
No, nor will Gen. Taylor get into the Whig party. 
He may get into a small portion of it, into that 
portion" constituted of men who have sons for 
whom they wish to get snug places — whom they 
wish to have appointed Midshipmen, or to some of 
the thousand lucrative offices which go to make 
up the executive patronago. Whigs tell you that 
you should go for Taylor, and Hunkers say 3'ou 
must go for Cass. There are five of these latter 
men in the town where I live and where we poll 
500 votes. (Laughter.) We must beg to differ 
from them. (Laughter.) 

This Convention must be a self-sacrificing 
Convention. A crisis had arrived when old pre- 
judices had got to be laid aside — sacrificed upon 
the altar of our common country's good. He 
"had come here to lay down all his former predi- 
lections upon this altar — to strike hands even with 
those against whom he had previously battled. — 
We mingle here with representatives- from Ohio, 
Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Iowa and Michigan, 
thank God. Here they stood, representatives 
from the fair fields of the West — an empire in it- 
self, from which slavery had been blotted out by 
a resolution drawn by the great man of our inde- 
pendence. Slavery had been excluded, and now 
the West had become the rich granary of the 
world. He had come on with representatives 
from New Jersey — that battle field of the Revo- 
lution. And Pennsylvania, too, that glorious old 
Keystone of the Union, is here — firm and true as 
steel — who cherishes within her bosom the patriot 
Wilmot. God raised up a David of old to slay 
the giant of Gath. So hath David Wilmot with 
the sling of freedom and the smooth stone of truth 
struck the giant slavery between the eyes — he 
reels — let us push him over! Massachusetts is 
here — and it is fitting she should be. A son of 
John Quincy Adams was here among her dele- 
gates. There was Samuel Adams, first among 
the statesmen of the Revolution, and he rejoiced 
that Francis P. Adams was in the front ranks of 
this great moral revolution. 

He hailed this time as a glorious era. He liked 
this agitation. It was an augury of better things 
to come. He liked this mingling of heretofore 
discordant elements — drawn together by the great 
sympathetic cord of freedom. Vermont, New 
Hampshire, Missouri and Delaware, are here. — 
And he was told that Maryland was here, and it 
was a fact of deeply momentous importance, when 
in the South they begin to talk of the evils of 
slavery. Virginia, "the mother of Presidents," 



was here. The feeling is extending, expanding, 
not only at the North, but at the South. 

[f we are wrong on the Tarif, it can be righted 
in twelve hours. If we are wrong on Banks, it 
can be righted by legislation. But if we are 
wrong on the subject of Slavery, it never can be 
righted. It will reach down to posterity, inflict- 
ing curses and misery upon generations yet to 
come. Let, then, no preferences for men distract 
our councils. Let all meet upon a common plat- 
form, to accomplish a great— a noble purpose. 

Mr. Husbands, of Rochester, took the stand and 
informed the audience that he was one who had 
had his head taken off politically in '44 for main- 
taining the principles which they were now as- 
sembled to advocate. He had stood by the side 
of Judge Nye and had been decapitated with him. 
His heart was in this Convention and he was glad 
to see the respectable portion of all parties. And 
why was this ? Why did he see Frederick Doug- 
lass here ? (Three cheers for Douglass.) Why 
did he see the Whig party here, the respectable 
portion of it. And why did he see the Democracy 
here in their strength ? Because they were all 
determined to curb and bridle and drive back and 
overthrow the proud and aggressive slave power, 
and he trusted that the people would now unite 
and shoulder to shoulder, fight in firm array till 
they should triumph. (Here the staging on which 
we sat went down with a tremendous crash, cap- 
sizing ink, paper, table, reporters and all, spoiling 
our gold pen, rasping the epidermis from our 
shins, and committing sundry other outrages of a 
similar nature. We finally succeeded in extri- 
cating self and traps from the "wreck of matter 
and crash of boards," and concluded to report no 
more of Mr. Husbands' remarks, because we 
couldn't.) 

We finally got a corner of the table on which 
the Speaker was standing, when "Stanton," . 
"Stanton," was loudly called, and came forward 
amid loud cheering,and gave notice that the Con- 
vention would be regularly organized at 12 o'clock, 
and was about to sit down, when there was such 
an outer}' for him to "just say something," that 
he consented and said he would make a speech 
about as long as the ferule of his cane. 

He said that the motto of this Convention should 
be that of the French republic, "Liberty, Equali- 
ty, Fraternity." (Cheers.) They had come up 
to contend against a movement, on the part of the 
slave interest, to extend that cursed institution 
which takes the image of Almighty God on the 
immortal soul, and blots it therefrom by legislation 
and stamps in its place, by legal enactment, the 
name of brute, beast, and property; that that in- 
stitution now struggling for existence on its own 
soil, shall be extended to territories where the 
lower morality and feebler republicanism of Mex- 
ico has abolished it. This is the issue which the 
South tenders to this country at the noonday of 
the nineteenth century. Waiving all my peculiar 
views, 1 am for joining issue with the South on 
that great cause. I am for trying it this year be- 
fore the American people, and I am for getting a 
verdict, and entering up judgment, taking out 
an execution, and levying on the slave power and 



FREE SOIL CONVENTION AT BUFFALO. 



taking possession of it, and hangingit up between 
the Heavens and the Earth where the winds of 
execration shall whistle through it (Cheers )— 
In order to fight this battle successfully we must 
be united, and again I say let us adopt the glorious 
motto of the new-born French republic: "Liberty, 
Equality, Fraternity. (Cries of good, good, that's 
it, go it, give it to 'em.) 

Tbe great loadstone principle which has brought 
us up here from the Mississippi to the Aroostook, 
for it has been ascertained in general committee 
that all the Northern tier of slave States are re- 
presented in this Convention, [Good, good,] is 
the French motto, Liberty, the sun of this great 
movement, around which the other departments 
revolve, bound to it by the law of gravitation and 
from which all other "subordinate movements re- 
ceive their light and their heat. Then, sir, we 
come here to carry out that other principle of the 
French republic, Equality. Whigs, Democrats 
and Abolitionists, all parties are broken up and 
resolved into their original elements. Then there 
is that other word, Fraternity, completing the 
trinity of principles against which the united des- 
potism of the world cannot stand, [Cheers.] — 
Now, gentlemen, I hope we may not divide — 
£Cries of good, good, we wont, we wont.] 

Here a very fat gentleman rested his abdomen 
on our right shoulder in such a manner as render- 
ed us wholy incapable of recording a word which 
the speaker uttered. It took us some time to ar- 
range matters with our rotund friend and just as 
we got ready to resume our labors, Mr. Stanton 
concluded his speech by declaring that he was 
ready to go for anybody, with anybody, in favor 
of the free soil movement, and against anybody 
that is opposed to it. [Great cheering.] 

President Mahan, of Ohio, took the stand, but 
owing to the necessity of rebuilding the platform 
previous to the regular organization of the Con- 
vention, the audience was requested to divide into 
four parties, and each party to retire to a corner 
of the Park, where temporary stands had been 
erected, and where there were speakers ready to 
entertain them. The audience did accordingly, 
and we left. 

12 o' CLOCK. 
ORGANIZATION OF THE CONVENTION. 

Judge Stevens, of Indiana, called the meeting 
to order, and proposed NATHANIEL SAW- 
YER, of Ohio, as President of the Convention 
pro iem. Unanimously confirmed. 

Mr. Sawyer came forward and ordered the 
stage to be cleared: and the stage was cleared. 

The President nominated Charles P. Wells, 
of Illinois, and Calvin W. Philleo, of Connecti- 
cut, as Secretaries. Confirmed. 

Hon. Preston King came forward, amid great 
cheering, and offered the following motion. He 
said that it was suggested yesterday that a com- 
mittee consisting of as many members from each 
state as they have electoral votes, should be ap- 
pointed to draft resolutions, and recommend 
certain propositions for the consideration of the 
Convention. The first thing for us to do is to 
unite. [Cheers.] He would read a resolution 



which the committee unanimously agreed upon. 
There is nothing binding in the resolutions. They-' 
are for the consideration of the Convention: 

Resolved, That it is the duty of the Federal Gov- 
ernment to relieve itself of all responsibility for tl>e 
extension or continuance of slavery, whenever thai 
Government possesses Constitutional authority, and 
is responsible for its existence. 

Resolved, That the States within which slavery 
exists, are alone responsible for the continuance or 
existence of slavery within such States, and the 
Federal Government has neither responsibility nor 
Constitutional authority to establish or regulate sla- 
very within the States. 

Resolved, That the true, and in the judgment of 
this Convention, the only safe means of preventing 
the extension of slavery into territory now free, is 
to prohibit its existence in all such territory by an 
act of Congress. 

Mr. Noble was unanimously confirmed by the 
Convention as the representative of the District of 
Columbia, and a resolution was passed to the ef- 
fect that a committee of one from each State and 
one from the District of Columbia, be selected to 
drait a plan for the permanent organisation of the 
Convention, and that each delegation appoint its 
representative.' The States were called and the 
following gentlemen were appointed as the Com- 
mittee: 

Maine — Jabez C. Woodman. 

New Hampshire — George G. Fog%. 

Vennont — E. D. Barber. 

Massachusetts — William Jackson. 

Rhode Island — Wm. G. Hammond. 

Connecticut — Thaddeus Wells. 

Neio York— Preston King. 

Neio Jersey — H. M. Conger. 

Pennsylvania — Joseph Neide. 

Ohio—S. P. Chase. 

Michigan — Isaac P. Christiancy. 

Wisconsin — Hans Crocker. 

Illinois — Isaac N. Arnold. 

Iowa — William Miller. 

Indiana — Joseph L. Jarnigan. 

Delaivare — Jacob Pusey. 

Maryland — William Robinson. 

Virginia — George Craig. 

District of Columbia— L. P. Noble. 

The Committee retired to the Court House, for 
the purpose of deliberating upon business to be 
presented to the Convention — nominating perma- 
nent officers, &c. 

A committee of five, consisting of John R. St. 
John, W. Larimer, jr., Dyre Tillinghast, Ptalph 
Farnsworth, and John P. Hogeboom, was ap- 
pointed to select and appropriate seats for the sev- 
eral State delegations. 

The Convention then took a recess until 3 
o'clock. 

afternoon session. 

When we arrived on the ground at 2 o'clock, 
an hour before the time appointed for the assem- 
bling of the Convention, we found an immense 
assemblage who had pre-occupied the ground, fil- 
ling the places reserved for Reporters, Officers of 
the Convention and Delegates, so that it was im- 
possible for any of them to get their seats. After 
considerable delay the crowd was drawn off by 
sending a gentleman to the other side of the Park. 



FREE SOIL CONVENTION AT BUFFALO. 



to address the crowd, and we among the rest of 
the favored ones, were able to get our seat. 

A great deal of trouble was experienced in ar- 
ranging the delegations from the different States, 
owing to the unwillingness of those who were not 
delegates to make room for them. Men seemed 
to think that because they were Free-soilers, and 
had "left home to come up here," they had a per- 
fect right to take possession of anyposition, place, 
or seat they might choose. 

It is a great pity that men who have no ideas of 
propriety should be permitted to attend a Conven- 
tion under any circumstances. A Mr. Cochrane, 
we believe, from New York, kicked up a great 
row by refusing to comply with the request of the 
Committee on Seats, to vacate the benches. 

This Mr. Cochrane, supported by some per- 
sons of a similar pertinaceous disposition, made 
himself particularly obnoxious and ridiculous by 
his obstinate stupidity. " We are the Conven- 
tion," said Mr. Cochrane, and his assinine abet- 
tors, but the Convention voted on the motion of 
a member, that " the seats should be vacated," 
and the disturbers, deservedly rebuked, withdrew. 

The Convention then proceeded to organize — 
but the box on which the Chairman stood when 
addressing the meeting was gone. Lovejoy, of 
Ohio, had it, and was speaking from the top of 
it, and he would not give it up. Another box 
was obtained, and Mr. S. P. Chase, of Ohio, was 
appointed Chairman pro. tern, in the absence of 
Mr. Sawyer. Mr. Chase mounted the box and 
called the meeting to order amid such a din as 
never was heard. A scene of such noise and con- 
fusion would have completely annihilated Gen. 
Cass. The Chairman of the Seat Committee was 
giving in his report. About twenty gentlemen 
were speaking to all sorts of motions made and 
seconded by themselves. Cries of "gentlemen," 
'•sit down," " get off my toes," "who has my 
seat?" "Mr. Chairman," "silence," "order," 
"keep still," was all that could be heard. 

Finally, the Chairman of the Committee of Or- 
ganization came forward to report, when he 
informed the assembly that CHARLES FRAN- 
CIS ADAMS, of Mass., had been selected as 
President. The audience gave him six heariy 
cheers, and Mr. Adams came forward and bowed 
his acknowledgments. 

Hon. Preston King, from the committee of one 
from each State, on the permanent organization of 
the Convention, unanimouslv recommend 

CHALES F. ADAMS, of Mass., for President 
of the Convention. 

That there be one Vice President from each 
State represented in this Convention, and one 
from the District of Columbia, to be selected by 
the Delegates from the several States. 

That Charles B. Sedgwick, of N. Y.; C. V. 
Dyer, of 111.; Thomas Bolton, of Ohio; Ralph 
Butler, Jr., of Maine; J. E. Snodgrass, of Mary- 
land; A.M.Johnson, of New Jersev; Franklin 
Ta}der, of Penn., be Secretaries of the Conven- 
tion. 



Mr. Adam? took his seat aniid the vociferous aniT 
repeated cheers of the multitude. 

The following Vice Presidents were then nomi- 
nated by their respective State Delegations: 

Maine — William Bradbury, 

New Hampshire — Moses A. Cartland. 

Vermont — Lawrance Brainard. 

Massachusetts — John Mills. 

Ncic Jersey — David L. Rogers. 

Pennsaltania — E. D Gazzano. 

Ohio — Nicholas Spindle. 

Illinois — S. J Lowe. 

Indiana — John W. Wright. 

JVisconsan — Byron Kilbourne. 

Ioxca — William Mitter. 

Michigan — Robert S, Wilson. 

Maryland — Robert Gardner. 

Virginia — George Craig. 

Rhode Island — VV alter R. Danforth. 

Delaware — A. H. Dixson. 

District Columbia — L. B. Noble. 

The delegation from New York not having 
agreed upon a nomination for Vice President.it 
was agreed to meet at 8 o'clock this evening lor 
that purpose. 



FIRST DAY. 



EVENING SESSION. 

Mr. Adams: Fellow Citizens, you will agree 
with me, I think, that the proceedings of this great 
body should be first commenced with prayer. — 
[les, yes.] I would then, invite you to listen to 
a prayer from the Rev. Mr. Tucker, of this city. 
MR. TUCKER'S PRAYER. 

O God, our Heavenly Father, on this interest- 
ing occasion we would invoke thine especial bless- 
ing to rest upon this great multitude, assembled 
to deliberate upon subjects of momentous impor- 
tance to the present and future well-being of our 
beloved country. Thou, O Lord, hast been our 
God, and our fathers' God. Thou hast watched 
over us with parental kindness and solicitude. — - 
Thou hast had our country in thine especial keep- 
ing, from its earliest day to this auspicious hour. 

We bless Thee, our heavenly Father, that in 
thy providential government of the world, thou 
hast seen fit to reserve this land for an asylum of 
the oppressed in the latter days, and that here the 
afflicted and the down trodden of every nation and 
kindred and tongue and people under the whole 
heavens can find a country and a home; a land 
of bibles, and of bible freedom. We rejoice, O 
Lord, that in thy good providence such a great 
host has assembled here today, from almost every 
pan of this great confederacy, to deliberate upon 
measures to wipe out that dark spot, that foul 
stain upon our country's escutcheon, the enslave- 
ment of a portion of our fellow-men, and to pro- 
claim liberty throughout all the land. 

O God, we give thanks unto Thee, that when 
our fathers were oppressed in their own country, 
the land of their childhood, bevond the great sea, 



thou didst open for them an asylum in this Wes- 

Geo. Rathbun of New York, and S. P. Chase of | tern world; a land sung by poets; a land seen in 

/ere appointed a committee to wait upon Mr. I the visions of the Seers long before the advent of 



Ohi< , 
Adams 



and announce to him his appointment. 



thy Son; a land far towards the setting sun, the 



FREE SOIL CONVENTION AT BUFFALO. 



El Dorado of Human Freedom, where man would 
attain to his full stature, physically, mentally, and 
morally, and where he was to be a perfect being 
erehe finished his pilgrimage below. Thou didst di- 
rect, the first vessels that approached these shores. 
Thou didst turn away the prow of every Spanish 
ship that thou mightest plant this land with the seed 
of Republican and Religious Freedom. Thou didst 
watch over our Colonies in their infancy. Thou 
didst fight their battles and win their victories. 

O God, thou hast developed our resources. — 
Thou hast caused us to become great among the 
nations of the earth, till now thou hast made us 
the bright and morning star of the universal eman- 
cipation of all men every where; so that in this 
our day thou, in thy mysterious providence, art 
overturning the old thrones of despotism, and re- 
volutionising the governments of men, and caus- 
ing them to turn their attention and their hopes to 
this Western world. And now O Lord, we pray 
thee to continue to us this parental regard and 
protection. Give us wisdom to enable us to dis- 
charge the great and responsible duties which 
shall come before us, in a manner that shall con- 
duce to our country's welfare and thy glory. O 
God, to this end give the presiding officer of this 
Convention that wisdom which cometh down 
from above. We pray Thee that the mantle of 
the father may fall upon the son and as the former 
has been gathered to his fathers to rest, full of 
honors and amidst the sighs and tears of a berea- 
ved nation, may the latter rise up and with the 
father's love of Freedom and his fearless advoca- 
cy of Truth, fulfil the condition and destiny his 
revered and lamented parent filled in the eyes and 
councils of his country. 

O Lord, grant every officer and member of this 
Convention wisdom sufficient to guide them har- 
moniously and profitably through all the business 
which shall come before them. Take them then 
into thine own keeping, guide their deliberations 
in such a manner as shall best subserve our coun- 
try's weal and thy honor, and finally, when we 
shall have accomplished our duty and destiny on 
earth, bring us to ©ur graves in peace, whence, in 
the morning of the resurrection, we shall be caught 
up to meet our God and King. 

This through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 

As soon as the Rev. gentleman had finished 
his eloquent, but very long prayer for such an 
occasion, Mr. Adams arose and addressed the 
Convention as follows : 

MR. ADAMS SPEECH. 

Fellow Citizens : It is a matter of deep and 
heartfelt gratitude to me that I have been selected 
as an unworthy instrument to preside over the 
deliberations of this great body. I would apolo- 
gize for my own unfitness were it not that I see 
in the multitude of speaking faces before me, and 
feel in the mass of beating hearts around me some 
guaranty that you will all contribute to make my 
labors light. 

Fellow citizens, you have all assembled here 
today out of pure devotion to a principle. That 
principle, clothed as it has been in technical terms 
which do not express the idea, has yet rallied to 
its support the multitudes that I see before me. 



This gives me an assurance of the intelligence 
and virtue of the people — which I never doubted 
— and without any necessity for long reasoning 
on the subject ; without the need of those eluci- 
dations which are so often demanded in public 
affairs. No, when they heard the words of the 
Wilmbt proviso their instincts told them that 
Human Liberty was in danger, and the answer 
that they have given to it is, that they are here. 
[Applause.] I have been told, fellow citizens, by 
those who do not sympathise in this glorious 
movement, that the Wilmot proviso is, after all, 
nothing but an abstraction. [Laughter.] Well, 
to a certain extent I am willing to admit that it is 
an abstraction. I am willing to say what it is not. 
It is not bread and butter. It is not roast beef and 
two dollars a day. [Laughter.] It is not a nice 
provision under government as a reward for party 
services. No, the Wilmot proviso rises above ail 
these considerations. It is an abstraction to be- 
sure, and so was Magna Charta an abstraction. 
And so was the declaration of independence an 
abstraction. [Yes, yes. That's it. There-you 
have 'em.] So is the idea of right and justice 
and the truth of God an abstraction. And it is 
these abstractions that raise mankind above the 
brutes that perish. [Yes, yes. That's the fact 
Go it.] It is these abstractions that raise a peo- 
ple and carry them on to glory for ever. And, 
fellow citizens, it is around these abstractions that 
we now rally in order to place our Government on 
a proper basis which it has deserted. 

Fellow citizens, for my own part, I regard the 
Wilmot proviso as covering a great deal more 
ground probably than you may at first imagine. I 
regard the Wilmot proviso as, in substance, a 
struggle between right and wrong. As a contest 
between truth and falsehood, between the princi- 
ples of Liberty and the rule of Slavery. [Good, 
good. Hurrah.] Now, fellow citizens, is the 
accepted time when we all come together to note 
what our position is and how far the government 
has drifted from the ancient landmarks which our 
fathers set up. Now is the accepted time when 
we are taking a new observation of the national 
ship, and if we have found that she has drifted 
from her course, we are to try to put her back 
again. [Applause.] The question now before 
us is one, which involves the proposition whether 
we shall adhere to the solemn principles of the 
Declaration of Independence ; whether we srfall 
deduce government from the consent of the gov- 
erned ; and whether we shall make this govern- 
ment a system which promotes justice or which 
sanctions slavery in the new territories of the 
West. [Yes, yes, that's the question.] Why, 
fellow citizens, this question rises above the mere 
consideration of common law. By natural law, 
by the law of God no people are authorised to sow 
the seeds of slaverv in a rising community any- 
where ; and the Constitution of the United States 
never contemplated that we as a people should 
allow the creating of a system of injustice in any 
country which we may ever populate. Yet, it is 
,a fact, fellow citizens, that these solemn principles 
which we have supposed to have been established 
for seventy years, are now called in question in 



8 



FREE SOIL CONVENTION AT BUFFALO. 



the high places of the Union. They have not only 
heen called abstractions, but they have been de- 
clared to be actually false. It is highly incumbent 
upon us, therefore, if we mean really to stand by 
what our fathers told us; if we mean to sympa- 
thise with the principles of Locke and stand by 
the martyrdom of Hampden and Sidney, it is ne- 
cessary to withstand the efforts of those who 
would earn,- us back two hundred years and place 
us under the tyranny of the principles advocated 
by the old English philosophers, Hobbes and other 
writers of the times. 

Fellow citizens, I firmly believe the world is 
about to know, whether we are the devoted sons 
of Liberty or whether we are going to give up the 
whole of this great Western continent to the rule 
of those who do not acknowledge our principles 
but denounce them. Fellow citizens, we are ob- 
liged, under a necessity which we cannot resist, 
to denounce the organizations of the old parties as 
no longer worthy of the confidence of a free people. 
(Applause.) They have met, and they have 
shown by their action that they have no system of 
policy, excepting that which consists in fighting 
with each other in the endeavor to get place as 
the prize of the struggle. (That's it, good, you 
hit 'em there.) They are united, however, in 
one thing, and that is to put down the principle of 
liberty which is rising in this continent. Fellow 
citizens, we know the result of these bodies, and 
now that we have seen and understand what it is 
that they are contending for, let us go forward and 
show our fellow citizens what a different spectacle 
is exhibited by those who, looking first upon a 
solemn principle, are agreed upon that, and then 
turning their shoulders to the wheel see how it 
shall be carried out. (Cheers.) And, fellow 
citizens, we claim to be of those who, although 
they may desire to command success, yet, do not 
mean to forget that, in the event of success, they 
mean to carry their principles with them. (Great 
applause.) 

But, fellow citizens, the eyes of the whole 
country are upon our action this day,and there are 
many ill-disposed persons who are greedily look- 
ing for some manifestation of distraction, and dis- 
sension and division, which shall succeed in de- 
feating, as far as any human power can defeat it, 
the success of our movement. Looking at the 
results of their own Conventions, in which they 
have presented the mortifying spectacle of noth- 
ing but division, they do really suppose that we, 
who come here, are in just the same position — 
(Laughter, they are decidedly verdant.) They 
do not understand the difference between them 
and us yet. (No, no, they soon will though.) — 
They do not understand that they are fighting 
only for expediency, and are expecting nothing 
but place. (Ha, ha, ha, a good hit.) But here 
have we come together with an anxious and an 
earnest desire to mark out the way in which we 
shall arrive at truth, and when once it shall have 
been presented to us, not to quarrel, but unite to- 
gether in its support. (Great applause.) They 
do not understand that we come here and say, 
"set up your standard of Freedom and Truth, 
everything for the cause and nothing for men." — 



(Tremendous and long continued applause.) Let 
your deliberations then proceed and may the 
Divine blessing rest upon the result, so that we 
may take one step forward to realize that great 
idea of our forefathers, the motiel of a Christian 
commonwealth. 

Mr. Adams took his seat amidst the most en- 
thusiastic and long continued applause. 

The Committee on Organization, &c, submit- 
ted the following further report, which was unan- 
imously adopted: 

This Convention assembled in pursuance of a 
recommendation of the State of Ohio held on the 
28th day of June last. That Convention recom- 
mended the appointment of six delegates at large 
for each State that should choose to be represent- 
ed, and three delegates from each Congressional 
District. 

Several States have followed that recommenda- 
tion as to the number of delegates while in other 
States, County and District meetings have ap- 
pointed a much larger number than that proposed 
and in some a smaller number. 

The committee appointed by the delegations of 
the several States to confer upon the subjects of 
organization and representation,have had the sub- 
ject under consideration, and beg leave to submit 
to the Convention the following rules to remedv, 
as far as practicable, the inequality which would 
arise from voting in mass, per capita, or bv 
States. 

1. Each State shall be entitled to six conferees 
to be composed of its delegates at large, if it have 
them in sufficient numbers, if not they shall be 
appointed by the delegates in attendance from 
said State, 

2. Each Congressional district of a State repre- 
sented, shall be entitled to three conferees. The 
regular delegates of the districts shall be such con- 
ferees, if enough are in attendance. If not, the 
number may be supplied by the delegates from 
said state, from any persons attending from said 
state. 

3. The said conferees shall constitute a Com- 
mittee of Conference, and shall have full power 
to sit during the sittings of the Convention, and 
to entertain and decide finally any question re- 
ferred by the Convention, or any question that 
shall be originated in said Committee of Confer- 
ence; and shall have full power on the subject of 
representation. 

4. Any question in the Convention shall be re- 
ferred to said Committee for its final action, upon 
the demand of one hundred members. 

SPEECH OF JOSHUA R. GIDDINGS, OF 
OHIO. 

[We are not certain that we have done Mr. 
Giddings justice in the following report; we were 
surrounded by a set of unmannerly fellows who 
continually interrupted us by questions, and some 
even requested us to "pass up" papers and doc- 
uments of various kinds to the officers of the 
convention. We hope that in future all these fel- 
lows' mothers will keep their unmannerly off- 
spring at home. Reporter.] 

Mr. Giddings having been loudly aud repeated- 



FREE SOIL CONVENTION AT BUFFALO. 



ly called for, came forward amidst the most deaf- 
ening applause and spoke as follows: 

Friends, countrymen and fellow citizens : I 
know of no sublimer spectacle that could be pre- 
sented to the eye of the Patriot, Statesman, or 
lover of mankind, than to see a people assembled 
in mighty Convention, for the the maintenance of 
their own unalienable rights; and when my Rev- 
erend friend here made such beautiful allusion to 
that venerable statesman, who has lately taken his 
departure from this to a brighter world, my heart 
involuntarily responded amen to the sentiment he 
expressed. * I firmly believe, that could that " old 
man eloquent," tha't mighty and irresistible cham- 
pion of human rights from early youth to ex- 
treme age, have lived to see this day, he would 
have said like him of old, " Now, Lord, let thy 
servant depart in peace since mine eyes have 
seen thy salvation." [Great applause.] 

Fellow citizens, that venerable statesman and 
patriot first called my attention to the usurpations 
of that power which'now threatens to engulf your 
liberties. He has taken his departure from the 
scenes of political discord and strife, and it has 
been left to another generation to maintain the 
rights which he labored during his whole life to 
establish in perpetuity for the enjoyment of your- 
selves and your nftspring. That beautiful allu- 
sion, made in the prayer to which you listened to 
this morning, to the Pilgrim Fathers who were 
tempest tossed upon a wintery and storm-ridden 
sea, as they fled from political oppression at home, 
and sought to establish this ever living principle 
of man's unalienable rights upon the shores of 
Massachusetts, reminded me, that in that same 
year — ves, fellow citizens, in that same year that 
our Pilgrim Sires landed upon those inclement 
shores, a Dutch ship, freighted with humanity 
made merchantable by. the superior fraud and 
powers of piratical dealers in human flesh and 
blood, landed upon our coast at Jamestown, in 
Virginia. Yes, the element of slavery and de- 
gradation was established in the same year that 
our Pilgrim Fathers established Human Liberty 
upon the wild New England shores. And these 
antagonistic principles have been spreading and 
widening, and pushing out, and bearing fruitfrom 
that day to the present. And while New Eng- 
land has been, with devotion to her country, her 
God, and to mankind, endeavoring to extend her 
principles of liberty, Southern States have been 
eagerly and energetically engaged in extending 
and perpetuating Human Degradation and Slave- 
ry. And that institution existed when it was first 
brought upon the southern shores of these States 
precisely as it is now sought to be established in 
California and New Mexico. It was established 
there by force of the physical and intellectual su- 
periority of the whites over the colored race. — 
In violation of heaven's high decree, the white- 
man seized his fellow colored man and compelled 
him to submit to his will. That state of the de- 
graded African existed for years with no other 
law to sustain it than now exists in New Mexico 
and California. 

He who reads the history of our country, and 
especially that portion of it which relates to the 



introduction, establishment, and extension of the 
heaven-defying institution of Slavery, will un- 
derstand the deep-laid schemes of southern States- 
men to establish Slavery in New Mexico by the 
the entire absence of legislation upon the subject. 
Leave the slave-holder to convey his slaves there, 
let him but once gain a foothold there and by force 
of superior intelligence and power; by the bowie- 
knife, the scourge, the whip and the dread in- 
struments of torture, he will establish slavery 
there unless prevented by the law. 

John C. Calhoun is too deep read a man, he is 
too well versed in all the infernal measures of 
fraud, force and duplicity by which Slavery en- 
circles its victims in its deadly folds, and enlar- 
ges its borders, and strengthens its power, to be 
induced by any means whatever to give his sup- 
port to any movement that would in the least mi- 
litate against his darling institution; and I tell you 
that the late Compromise, as it has been called, 
was a deep-laid scheme of those whose invention 
never fails them, to entrap you into the support of 
Slavery in New Mexico and California. 

Fellow-Citizens, I do rejoice today to see the 
people come up here from the various States of 
this Union, north of Mason and Dixon's line, and 
thank God, some south of it, [great applause] in 
the spirit of devotion to maintain the self-evident 
rights of man for which our forefathers bled dur- 
ing the revolution. [Applause.] I can only say 
to you fellow-citizens, that if you expect to be in- 
structed by my remarks today, you will be disap- 
pointed. I see none before me but patriots. friends, 
and philanthropists who wish to cheer me on in 
my work. 1 know not how to meet such. I have 
not been used to it. [Laughter and applause.] — 
I tell you I miss my sword. [Renewed applause 
and great merriment.] I know not how to meet 
you today as friends, for I have not been accus- 
tomed to such, and while I rejoice with joy un- 
utterable, I feel unprepared to give utterance to 
the sentiments of my heart. 

My friends, I know I have before me here per- 
sons who are members of all the political parties. 
[A voice, "who have been friends of the parties."] 
Have been; I thank my friend for the words. I 
will write it down in my book. [Ha, ha, ha, cap- 
ital; give 'em Jessie.] I say then I see before me 
men who have been members of all the political 
parties of the day. Men who have supported 
Clay and Jackson and Adams and Taylor per- 
haps. Men who have supported Cass. Of course 
no one thinks of supporting him now. [No. No. 
No.] Well I will speak of him as v of the others, 
one who has been. [Ha, ha, ha. Poor Cass. — 
His mother never should have allowed him to 
stray from the maternal domicile.] I say fellow- 
citizens, that when I come here and meet men 
ready to carry into practical life the principles of 
'76, 1 can extend the hand of "Fraternity" to 
them. I feel that 1 am meeting friends, patriots 
who are willing to make sacrifice for the mainte- 
nance of those holy principles. [Applause.] 

Of General Cass I will not speak. He has been 
a political opponent of mine, and is now. Of 
General Taylor I can only remark that I know not 
enough of him to say any thing in his favor or to 



10 



FREE SOIL CONVENTION AT BUFFALO. 



evil of him. I can only speak of his prin- 
ciples and those of the old Whig party. [Ha, ha, 
ha. A decided hit.] I say to you I now stand 
where I stood in '44. I wish to repeat what was 
then often and deliberately asserted to be the prin- 
ciples of the whig party. Aside from the Tarif, 
and other principles of the campaign, we know 
that non-extension of Slavery was the issue. — 
May God forgive vou Locofocos for your conduct 
then. I cannot do it. [Great laughter and ap- 
plause.] That was the issue on which we joined 
battle under our old beloved and gallant leader. — 
Would to God we had such a leader now. [Ap- 
plause.] Henry Clay laid it down in his letter at 
that time, that non-extension of Slavery was the 
ninth article in the whig creed. Do you remem- 
ber that, friends of General Taylor? [Yes, yes, 
we remember it.] Henry Clay re-asserted this 
principle. [A voice, "tell us something about Mat 
Van Buren."] I will attend to him by and by, 
when I will do him justice. Henry Clay made 
that declaration, and is there any one here who 
denies it? [No, no.] Now you who support 
General Taylor, dare you come up to it? If you 
dare not, you have fled from the platform on which 
you then stood. Can a man make General Tay- 
lor assert what Henry Clay proclaimed in '44? — 
[No-o-o-O.] Henry- Clay boldly put forth his 
sentiments, aud his honesty and fairness brought 
his downfall. The slave power wrote on his wall 
the prophecy, "Mene, Tekil, Upharsim." Thou 
art weighed in the balances and found wanting. 
Henry Clay was defeated in the Philadelphia Con- 
vention onoccount of that declaration. He lies 
low, smitten down by the ruthless slave power, 
which has never spared anv however exalted, 
whom it suspected of a willingness to recognize 
the principles embodied in the Declaration of In- 
dependence. [A voice once more, "tell us about 
Little Matty. He's the boy for our money.] — 
Well, gentlemen, you all know that I opposed 
Martin Van Buren with all my powers. I left no 
stone unturned in '44 to defeat his election. Mar- 
tin Van Buren rejected Texas in '37. She was 
then at war with Mexico. In '44 the slavehol- 
ders of Mississippi interrogated him upon this sub- 
ject, which with them, was the transcendent ques- 
tion of all others, and he declared his opposition to 
the Annexation of Texas, in '44. This is a mat- 
ter of truth and of history, and I declare it to be 
the brightest spot in his political life. There was 
in that act a perfect consistency, and a perfect ad- 
aptation to his present position as I understand it. 
You will understand that I am not an advocate of 
Martin Van Buren for the Presidency. He is not 
my choice, but if he shall be the fairly selected 
candidate of this Convention, then, I say I shall be 
for him. [Enthusiastic applause.] If not. then 
I say I am against him. Whoever is put forth, I 
will regard as my political brother, and I will sus- 
tain him as such. [Great applause.] 

Fellow-Citizens — If you will excuse me now, I 
will resume my remarks precisely at this point, at 
some other time. [No, no. Go on, go on.] Af- 
ter considerable begging, Mr. Giddixgs obtained 
leave to retire, when loud calls were made for 
Benjamin F. Butler and Mr. Culver of Now York. 



Mr. Cllver took the stand and addressed the au- 
dience as follows: 

MR. CULVER'S SPEECH. 

Gestlemev — 1 have lungs like a double bound, 
high pressure steam engine. [Ha, ha, ha.] I 
will make you all here just like a knife. [Ha, ha, 
ha.] Mr. Butler will speak after I get through. 
— It is always customary where I live to put the 
young steers first and let the old oxen come be- 
hind: [Ha, ha, ha, what a d — 1 of a fellow he is, 
go it Culver.] , 

Fellow citizens, you have come up here from 
all parts of the country to signify your love of 
Liberty and haired of Oppression. I consider this 
the sublimest spectacle my eyes ever rested on. 
I attended at Tippecanoe in 1840. I thought I 
saw faces there. I thought no man could num- 
ber them, but they were nothing compared to this 
ocean of heads. [Laughter.] This immense 
concourse shows me that there is comething at 
the bottom of this matter at work. W 7 hat is it 
that has brought little Rhode Island, that little 
State which sets out in the sea, up here today to 
strike hands with Iowa? W T hat has brought Vir- 
ginia up here, that State of moonlight cotton bag 
abstractions? [Ha, ha, ha. He's one of 'em.] 
W 7 hat has brought Ohio here, our elder sister, too 
old to have children, although she has several 
thousands here today, who are alive and kicking? 
[Ha, ha, hoc] Gentlemen, I am just like a 
Connecticut beer barrel, and have wanted vent 
the whole day. [Great merriment.] What, 
gentlemen, is the one bond that has tied us toge- 
ther? Have you ever seen that gushing up in 
the old parties that links us together? [No, no.] 
What is that bond? Why, fellow citizens, we 
have seen down at the South a principle growing 
up and strengthening for fifty years. We thought 
it would grow weaker, but it has been continually 
rising up and growing stronger and stronger till 
at last it threatens to overwhelm us all. But we 
will not have our necks ground down, and this is 
what is rousing us up. 

Fellow citizens, what is the glorious issue now 
at stake? It is something tangible. We have 
talked heretofore of Banks, Sub-Treasuries, and 
Tarifs, but now we have got hold of something 
tangible. Have you not seen that the slavehol- 
ders have always fashioned our movements? — 
When they said bank, we had a bank. Even 
Calhoun could go for it then. If they said Tarif, 
we had a Tarif. And if they said no Tarif, the 
Tarif was gone in a twinkling. When the facto- 
ries were all going, and the factory girls making 
lots of money, and our farmers making money, 
and everything going on prosperously here at the 
North, the slaveholders said we must stop this. 
Those Yankees are going on too fast. They are 
becoming too rich and powerful, and they brushed 
away your prosperity as a housewife brushes a 
cobweb from the ceiling of a room. [That's a 
fact. Yes, yes.] Why can we not have our ri- 
vers and harbors improved? Because the South 
want the money to pay for a war down in Mexico, 
and to get slaves there. 1 have had a little ex- 
perience in this matter. I was one of the immor- 
tal "fourteen" that voted against the war. I 



FREE SOIL CONVENTION AT BUFFALO. 



11 



voted against Texas when that base scheme was 
brought in, and the previovs question called, so 
that one hundred young members were not allow- 
ed a word of debate. Three Democrats then 
stood by my side, Bradford Wood, of Albany, 
Horace Wheaton and Preston King, who don't 
fear either fire or thunder. [Applause.] When 
[ asked King why he opposed the annexation, he 
laid his hand upon his heart, and said, I can never 
consent that the South shall acquire another inch 
of slave territory. [Great applause.] A few 
days after I got the floor, and then I lashed them 
with what I would have said on the day Texas 
was admitted. I had heard they were about to 
heat up the political furnace for the benefit of my 
three Democratic friends, and 1 told them that in 
old times three good men and true who would not 
bow down to the idols of their master, were cast 
into a furnace seven times heated, but that they 
did not get scorched half as badly as did they who 
threw them in. [Applause.] 

I wish to say a word about compromises, now 
I stand upon middle ground. I know all about 
anti-slavery. Now there is that portion of our 
party, and the Whig portion, and the Democratic 
portion, and we may not all think to set our stakes 
at the same notch. Now it is important that we 
start out on some good ground and go it strong as 
thunder as far as we do go. [Good, good.] On- 
ly get them on the track, and the South will make 
these men all consistent by and by. There is a 
class of men, and I honor them, who say we must 
look out for the guaranties of the Constitution. — 
I have heard men talk as though the Constitution 
was got up for the express purpose of maintain- 
ing slavery. John C. Calhoun said that slavery 
was the only kind of property guaranteed by the 
Constitution, and he never blushed, but said it 
with all the sangfroid of a Connecticut school- 
master. 

Now the Constitution does not say a word about 
slaves. The honorable men that made that in- 
strument remembered that when, twelve years be- 
fore, at the opening of the revolution, they stuck 
their stakes and stuck them strong, it was neces- 
sary to have the sympathy of all the world, and 
they struck out a charter containing certain great 
landmarks of which they were proud, and it was 
a Virginia hand that drew it up, and they recol- 
lected that in the platform thus laid down were 
principles quite inconsistent with the existence of 
slavery in this land. But now you hear them talk 
about the compromises of the Constitution. Where 
do you find them? Nowhere. A Virginian thinks 
the Constitution is a great jug with the handle all 
on the Southern side. And when you ask them 
to look on our side of the jug to see if there are 
not some guaranties there, they raise the crv of 
interference or dissolution of the Union. But 
thank God we have guaranties there. A free 
press and the right of petition. And how did they 
abide by these guaranties when that venerable old 
rnian who has lately gone to his eternal rest pre- 
sented-a petition to the House of Representatives 
which had been sent up to him by a portion of the 
people of this country? Why they attempted to 
crush him, to thrust him from that House. But 



the old man stood firm, and how did our hearts 
beat as we anxiously waited for the mails to bring 
us the tidings from the Capital, that we might 
learn whether the waves of Southern hate had 
overwhelmed him. But that old man triumphed 
gloriously and sent those Southern hounds crouch- 
ing and trembling back to their kennels. [Ap- 
plause.] And how did the South support the 
guaranties when my friend from Ohio presented 
his memorable petition? Why, they sent him 
home, and I say in the presence of that man's 
constituency, I have longed to see your faces. — 
You who in the dead of winter rolled up a major- 
ity of 3, 000, put his credentials in his hand and 
sent the great six-footer back to torment the 
sensitive Southrons. 

They told us we should have "freedotm of the 
press," and do you remember that 11 or 12 years 
ago a New England man went down among' them 
to establish a free press and that they attacked 
him, violated the sanctity of his home, and cast 
his press into the river? Did they say anything 
about the " guaranties" then? No — they sent 
four bullets and lodged them in his breast. They 
n.urdered him, and what stamps this nation with 
everlasting infamy, those men still go unwhipt of 
justice, and the murdered man has scarcely re- 
ceived an honorable grave. But let him alone. 
He will sleep but a little longer ere his resting 
place shall be marked by a monument to Free- 
dom. [Applause.] 

I challenge slavery for another thing. They 
talk about the guaranties of the Constitution. Do 
they wish to establish slavery in Southern States 
so as to break the balance of power? We will 
stand by the Jefferson Ordinance. Gentlemen, 
go down South and see the condition of the coun- 
try. As you travel along you will see the works 
of slavery. A worn out soil, dilapidated fences 
and tenements, and an air of general desolation. 
But by and by you come before a neat white house 
with good fences, and the grounds wearing the 
air of fertility and prosperity. Who lives there? 
A Quaker from New York. Yon see another sim- 
ilar estate. Who lives there? A Yankee from 
Connecticut. And now do you want this land- 
desolating and prosperity-killing institution spread 
over California and New Mexico? [No, no, no.] 

I recollect a subject that illustrates in a measure 
the spirit of the South upon all questions. It is 
petition day in Congress. A gentleman from 
South Carolina presents a petition to "take the 
fetters off of home labor." The petition is pass- 
ed right along. I feel encouraged. I was green 
then. [Ha, ha, ha.] I present a petition that 
Congress shall, as far as it has power, remove the 
institution of slavery. Immediately a dozen mem- 
bers move to lay it on the table, and it is laid on 
the table in a twinkling. There was but little dif- 
ference in the two petitions. The Southern mem- 
bers was to remove the fetters from home labor, 
and mine was to remove the fetters from home la- 
borers. I felt like the green Yankee who went to 
work for the old deacon. They used to place a 
pitcher by his plate which contained nothing but 
water, while all the rest of the family used the 
contents of a huge pitcher which sat in the mid- 



12 



FREE SOIL CONVENTION AT BUFFALO. 



die of the table. One day our Yankee friend 
boldly seized said pitcher and taking a hearty swig 
therefrom found it to contain the best kind of ci- 
der. The deacon, very much astonished, asked 
the young man "where he was brought up?" — 
'•Where all fared alike, by G — d, replied he. — 
(Great laughter.) 1 came from a country where 
all fared alike, and I thought my petition should 
have been granted as well as the other. 

Do you remember, my friends, when Massa- 
chusetts sent out a gentleman to South Carolina 
to look after the protection of her citizens visiting 
that State ? The Governor sent a message to the 
Legislature and the Legislature ordered the gen- 
tleman to leave instanter. He refused. A mob 
was raised and, at length, rather than jeopardize 
the life of his daughter, who was in feeble health, 
he chose to return to his home. The Legislature 
of his State got up some solemn joint resolutions 
and sent them to Congress. I remember when 
that old man, the oldest member of the House, 
presented them. They were sent to the table and 
Massachusetts was disgraced. The old man said 
with emphasis, Massachusetts will not always sub- 
mit to this. [Shame, shame.] Why is this ? — 
Had an eminent man come up from the South to 
Massachusetts, would the people have driven him 
out ? No, they would have given him a consider- 
able kind of good usage, they would have taken 
him home to their houses and kinder argued the 
matter with him. [Laughter.] I told them once 
in Congress that they could not bear the light. 

Now gentlemen, I say check slavery where it 
is and then I will show you a man that will go 
still farther. We have never guarantied that 
slaver}' shall rest on that 50 square miles yet. — 
[No, no, no.] When my constituents sent me to 
Congress, I told them plainly just what 1 meant 
to do. I said as long as there is a loophole through 
which I can fire on this abominable old institution, 
I shall fire away. [Good, good, give 'em hell.] 
Now I mean to be aggressive in this matter. — 
[Good, go it.] The cry is that it is unconstitu- 
tional, you can't prevent us going there and hav- 
ing our slaves there. Why suppose California 
had all the laws in all the States and all in opera- 
tion at the same time. Suppose the laws of Poly- 
gamy were in force in Texas as they sometimes 
practically are, [Ha, ha, ha.] and it was punished 
as a crime in Mississippi. Why you would have 
to have a law in California for and against Poly- 
gamy. What a ridiculous farce is this, then, of 
talking about extending the laws of ones own state 
over this territory. 

Friends we must unite. I have been a Whig 
for some time, and I greased Gen. Taylor and 
tried for a long time to swallow him, but after all 
I could do he got right across my throat and there 
he sticks. [Laughter.] I can not get him down. 
[Vomit him up then.] Well, I am afraid he will 
tear up my throat if I do. J shall go for the nom- 
inee of this Convention. [Applause] We must 
unite and take up the glove where the South throw 
it down. We will draw a line. Stop says the 
South, or we will dissolve the Union. That is 
one of the richest farces ever played. Dissolve 
the Union. Why, I remember a hatchet faced 



Virginian, whose face was so sharp that he could 
split an oak tree by looking at it. [Ha, ha, ha.] 
He came around by my seat seat, and said, so that 
I could hear it, "I have a great notion to go home 
to Virginia and call a Convention to dissolve the 
Union," said 1 you had better leave a door behind 
you and take six weeks provisions with you, for in 
less than that time your negroes will bring you 
back again. [Tremendous applause.] 1 go for 
putting it to them. [So do I.] Dont give sweet- 
ened water to these spunky children. Put the 
string on them. But say they,do you wish to elect 
Cass? (No, no, no.) Nor do we wish to elect 
Taylor. 

But say they, if you do not elect Taylor, Cass 
will be elected, and out of two evils you should 
choose the least. But we say to them, we prefer 
out of three evils to chose the least. (Ha, ha, ha.) 
We must fight together. John Van Buren gave 
a beautiful illustration of this point, in a letter a 
few days since. "Suppose," said he "that at the 
battle of Bunker Hill, the soldiers, instead of unit- 
ing to beat back the common foe, had busied 
tnemselves in prying into all the past actions of 
their fellows." But they did no such thing. They 
forgot all past difficulties. Let us do the same. — 
These men will come up like a book bye the bye. 
Remember what killed Van Buren. Remember 
what killed Clay. Unite and say to Taylor Whigs 
"come view the ground where you must shortly 
lie." (Enthusiastic and long continued cheering.) 

The Chair announced the following Committee 
on Resolutions: 

Neio York — Benjamin F. Butler, Joseph L. 
White, H. B. Stanton. 

Maine — D. Farnsworth, Alfred Johnson, James 
C. Woodman. 

Neic Hampshire — J. G. Hoit, W. A. Marston, 
G. G. Fogg , 

Massachusetts — S. Cv Phillips, Charles Sedg- 
wick, Joshua Leavitt. 

Vermont — J. Poland, Asahel Peck, Daniel Ro- 
berts. 

Connecticut— \N . H. Burleigh, C. W. Philleo, 
F. P. Tracy. 

Rhode Island — W. G.Hammond. 

New Jersey — John W. Stout, W. Dunham, 
George Updike. 

Pennsylvania — E. D. Gazzam, John C. Wills, 
John Doughertv. 

Ohio— S. P. Chase, E. S. Hamlin, W. A. Ro- 
gers. 

Maryland — Edwin Thomas, J. E. Snodgrass, 
Thomas Gardner. 

Virginia — George Craig. 

District of Columbia — C. L. Noble. 

Indiana — S. C. Stevens, S. A. Huff, Samuel 
Hoover. 

Illinois — J. N. Arnold, Owen Lovejoy, Thomas 
Richmond. 

Wisconsin — J. Codding, Hans Crocker, J. C. 
Mills. 

Iowa — William Miller. 

Michigan— H. K. Clarke, H. N. Ormsby, S. P. 
Mead. 

Delaware — Jacob Pusev, A. H. Dixon. 



FREE SOIL CONVENTION AT BUFFALO. 



13 



Mr. Butler was loudly called for, and came 
forward and addressed the meeting as follows : 

My Friends — It is, perhaps, unfortunate for 
me that I consented that Mr. Culver should first 
address you, for he possesses a fund of knowledge 
so vaiied and diversified, and has so long been an 
actor in scenes of deep political interest, which 
enables him not only to instruct but to entertain 
and delight an audience. He can pass from 
grave to gay, from lively to severe, and in each 
transition can pursue the steady path of argument. 
I, fellow citizens, can only speak to you in words 
of truth and soberness. I can say nothing to de- 
light the fancy nor to tickle the imagination. I 
am perfectly consious, however — excuse the van- 
ity — that I can say something which will reach 
the hearts of this great audience. [Good blood.] 
Why am I conscious of this ? Because I shall 
only repeat the truths — the immortal truths — 
which shall live forever and reform the world, 
notwithstanding that great but erratic genius has 
pronounced them false. 

Fellow citizens! when the people of Paris first 
entered the barricades for the expulsion of the 
Bourbons — when they drove out Charles the 10th 
and under the lead of Lafayette — our own Lafay- 
ette — the friend of human liberty throughout the 
world — the friend of Washington, Adams, Jeffer- 
son and Franklin — they were obliged to ordain 
new principles of government. There was one 
who had been a General, who had even not mere- 
ly broken his sword, but had shed his blood — [Ha! 
Ha! Ha!] — in defence of his country, and who, 
though he was a Bourbon, yet said he was a friend 
of liberty. He united, at all events, in that move- 
ment, and when he came into the streets of Paris 
to put himself, with the consent of the Parisians, 
at their head, he proclaimed Louis Philippe, and 
he was elected the first Citizen King of France. — 
He proclaimed henceforth' the Charter granted 
by Louis XVIII., and which Charles the 10th 
swore to maintain, but broke his oath. Louis 
Philippe said that the Charter henceforth should 
be a truth; but notwithstanding the applause 
which some American Generals have bestowed 
upon him, he was proved to be false, and the peo- 
ple of France have again been obliged to raise the 
barricades. Their spirit has come over to us and 
we are carrying it forward. [Applause.] 

Fellow citizens! there is some point and appli- 
cation in the brief historic page I have brought to 
your recollection. It was not for calling to your 
minds the fulsome and hypocritical laudations of 
an American General, that I have called your at- 
tention to it. No! If there were no other objec- 
tions to Gen. Cass than bad taste in writing his 
book, I could overlook it. I could even overlook 
the exhibition which he made, not creditable to 
any American, at the first meeting held at the 
capital of the United States, sympathizing with 
the French, he being one of the very first to re- 
joice over this — necessary it was undoubtedly, 
righteous, too, it was— overthrow of the man who 
he had previously lauded. He has paid the right- 
eous forfeit, and it admonishes me that it will not 
do, when the great interests of the country are at 
stake, to trust in any one man.. No. You must 



trust only to yourselves. First find out what is 
right, then pursue it — not putting your trust in 
Princes, nor in Generals. (Applause.) 

Fellow citizens! the friends who have preceded 
me, have alluded, with great propriety and felici- 
ty of language and thought, to the extraordinary 
circumstances under which we have convened, 
to the fact, occurring now for the first time in our 
political history, of a Convention assembled from 
seventeen States in the Union, and the capital — 
coming thousands of miles, and doing as they 
do and have done heretofore, oftentimes in serious 
and most exciting conflicts, to open questions of 
great magnitude, yet forgetting all their differen- 
ces, and bringing together a congregation of free 
hearts and free minds, for the purpose of delibera- 
ting upon one of the greatest questions which has 
been submitted to the American people since we 
have been a nation. And it is, indeed, a specta- 
cle as sublime and exhilerating, as it is noble and 
extraordinary. 

Here we' are, old actors upon the political 
boards. I barely allude to my actions, merely to 
say that I am not here to undo, or to unsay, any 
thing that I have ever before done or said. Not 
that I am infallible. I am a man, with the errors 
of a man. With regard to the political errors that 
I have committed, I will say that they were not 
errors of the heart, but errors of the head, and I 
am very free to say that now, that a new question 
has come up in which I, as an humble American 
citizen, am required to deliberate and act, I have 
tried to meet that question, with a just sense of 
my responsibility to my fellow men, and to Him 
who is the judge that sitteth upon the Throne, and 
shall weigh all the actions of men — the question 
whether freedom shall be abolished in four or five 
hundred thousand square miles of free territory 
and plant the curse of human slavery in these 
square miles or not. 

How may I — how are the old democrats — I 
wish every democrat in the Union who has resolv- 
ed to go for Gen. Cass w r as here, not that I could 
alter their determination, but I wish they were 
here to answer this question — how are we demo- 
crats, who profess to take Thomas Jefferson for 
our guide — how are we to meet this question ? I 
will tell where I sought instruction to enable me 
to answer it. I went first to the Declaration of 
Independence, for that is the starting point. It 
was formed by those who pledged their lives, their 
fortunes, and their sacred honors — and these 
pledges meant something in '76 — and I find it 
begins with this great foundation truth — that all 
men are born with certain rights, among which 
are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. And 
then I look to that other great charter of human 
liberty, as well as Divine freedom — to the Bible — 
and I find that of one blood hath God created all 
the nations of the earth. [Great applause,] 

How can any reasoning in '48 from any mind, 
however powerful or acute — for 1 am not a man to 
disrespect John C. Calhoun, even for that mad 
act of Nullification, for the errors of a man of 
genius are sacred to him who has a mind to appre- 
■ ciate and enjoy its lightning action — can any 
reasoning of Mr. Calhoun, or any of his imitators, 



14 



FREE FOIL CONVENTION AT BUFFALO. 



or repeaters, or of his northern — what shall I call 
them ? [Toadies, doughfaces, Lickspittles.] Can 
any of them convince me that the Declaration of 
Independence sets out with a falsehood and the 
Bible not true ? How absurd ! How ridiculous! 
Why, as well might the Southern Slaveholders 
attemp to repeat the miracle of Joshua and com- 
mand the sun to stand still in the heavens, or to 
roll back with their puny arms Niagara's mighty 
flood, as to stop the outworking of these princi- 
ples. These men do great injustice to themselves 
as well as to the great mass of the people of the 
South, to suppose that they can make any body 
of believe that these are not of the first of the 
truths in the political economy of our land. 

Then I passed to the Constitution of the United 
States. I am told that there are a great many 
compromises in that instrument, and so there are, 
for it was a work of compromise. But how was 
it made ? Did a body of people attempt to get 
together at the close of a week of July, and 
attempt to patch up a compromise and act upon 
it in such hot haste that had it not been for the 
Magnetic Telegraph, which appears to have been 
providentially given us for the express purpose of 
defeating this compromise — they would have 
passed it before the people could have heard of 
their plot. Was that the way they made com- 
promises in that day ? No, it took about three 
years, perhaps four, of discussion in the Southern 
States, before they could get a convention of del- 
egates called together for the purpose of ascertain- 
ing how the articles of confederation could be a- 
rnended. After the articles had been thus dis- 
cussed before they were prepared to be submit to the 
convention, the convention itself was in session 
from May to September, and there were such 
men as Washington, Adams and Franklin, in 
that convention, and they spent several months 
in the deliberatson and then settled upon an in- 
strument containing certain compromises, which 
they submitted to the several States as an instru- 
ment of government. And it did not go into ef- 
fect till after it had been placed before the people 
and they spent nearly the whole of the next year 
in discussing it. It then came before the State 
conventions, and some of these conventions were 
three or four months in session, and it finally went 
into effect with only ten States. I now remind 
you of this, for I understand that our members of 
Congress are now hatching a new compromise. 

The Missouri compromise also was before the 
people several years, and it went over from one 
Congress to another, so that the final bill, con- 
taining what is called the Missouri Compromise, 
was not passed till after an election had been held 
and the people thus had an opportunity, indirect- 
lv, to express their sentiments upon the question. 
And, therefore, I say to oar national legislators, 
that before they attempt to pass another compro- 
mise, they will wait and let the people express 
their opinions next November, and enable every 
man to say whether or not it is Christianlike and 
becoming a free people to abolish Freedom in 
Mexico and California, and plant slavery there, 
and in the name of all that is right and just and 
true, if they would not make our name a hissing 



and a by word throughout the earth, let this Con- 
gress withhold their hands from the passage of 
such an act, and especially, let the House of Re- 
presentatives adhere to the position they have ta- 
ken, and lay the bill on the table, not onlv bv a 
majority of 15, but by three times 15. [Applause.] 

There is another point which I wish you to ob- 
serve. This compromise bill would have shuffled 
this matter off upon the Supreme Court. The 
Constitution says the Congress of the United 
States, not the Supreme Court, nor any other ju- 
dicial tribunal, however learned it may be, shall 
have power to make laws regulating territories. 

Well, now, here are three territories, Oregon, 
New Mexico and California. Well, now, they 
won't give the people of Oregon a government.— - 
Why? Because no part of it lies below 36 deg. 
40 min. No, it lies four or five degrees above and 
most of it in 42 deg. Why then? ~ Why, because 
southern men say they won't vote for any Presi- 
dent of the United States, unless he is in favor of 
allowing Slavery south of 36 deg. 30 min. and 
therefore, although all Oregon lies north of 42 
deg. they will not pass a law giving a government 
to Oregon unless, pari passu you will pass a law 
authorizing Slavery in the territory south of 36 
deg. 30 min. These territories are not on the 
footing of the old territories, and when they put 
the question to us will you help abolish Freedom 
there and plant Slavery in its stead, we of the New 
York Democracy said no. We have never been 
blamed for not going far enough with you, but we 
have often been blamed for going too far : and 
fellow citizens if you allow the federal government 
to take one step forward to abolish Freedom and 
establish Slavery in the territory acquired by un- 
righteous war, you become parties to the enorm- 
ity, and the guilt rests upon every soul that takes 
part in it. 

My old friend Thomas Ritchie says, that my 
mind must be overset, but it is one fortunate cir- 
cumstance of such an event that the man who is 
so overset thinks he is right, and is happy in the 
thought. [Applause.] And I declare to you that 
I never slept so soundly, nor enjoyed such an ap- 
petite, nor had more pleasant dreams than since 
I threw myself into this movement. (Applause, 

go it, d an ultra Whig. ) Mr. Ritchie said it 

could not be that I was to address the Burnburners' 
meeting in the Park, because my relations to the 
party would not admit of it. (Laughter.) 

I hold office under the government which I got 
in the following way: Mr. Polk offered me a seat 
in the Cabinet, which I declined. A short time 
afterwards, Mr. Polk in conversation with a Sen- 
ator from New York remarked, that he had offered 
a seat in his Cabinet to a gentleman who had de- 
clined, as he preferred to follow his profession, 
and suggested that perhaps he would accept the 
appointment to an office which he held for a few 
years under Mr. Van Buren. I think I have a 
right to make this statement. The part 1 took in 
the Baltimore Convention demands that I should 
make it. (Yes, yes, goon.) Mr. Dix informed 
me of Mr. Polk's remark, and urged various rea- 
sons why I had better accept the appointment to 
the office I now hold, U. S. Attornev for the 




FREE SOIL CONVENTION AT BUFFALO. 



15 



Southern District of New York. I replied to Mr. 
Dix that he might inform Mr. Polk that if he had 
not made other arrrngements, that if he would not 
have to make any changes even of determination, 
that I would accept the appointment. And this is 
the way that I came into office, and when I saw 
that article in the Washington Union concerning 
me, a free citizen of the free State of New York, I 
felt no wish to have been born in Virginia. (Ap- 
plause.) I could not have spoken as calmly as I 
did on that occasion had I seen that article before 
I went to the meeting. 

Mr. Bright, of Indiana, heaven save the mark, 
the State of New York had the misfortune to be 
his birth place, said "if Mr. Polk dont turn you 
out of office there will be trouble." I said they 
shall not have the pretence of neglect of official 
duties to turn me out, and therefore I will not go 
out of the state of New York till I am turned out 
of office, (I hope you will soon be turned out.) but 
every moment that 1 can spare I shall devote to 
this cause. (Applause.) 

Fellow citizens, the question now before us is 
a question of greater importance than any other 
that is now before the country or the world. The 
oppressed and down trodden of the old world look 
to this country for homes, and if we allow slavery 
to be introduced into the territories of the South 
and West, these people can never find a home 
there. Free labor can not exist where slavery 
holds sway, and that you see that this question 
embraces the interests of myriads that are to come 
after us, on both sides of the Atlantic. And, fel- 
low citizens, of every kind, feeling the full im- 
portance of this question, I am with you to the 
victor}-. (Great applause.) 

After the conclusion of Mr. Butler's remarks, 
he said that after having listened to several speak- 
ers, the Convention would doubtless be glad of 
some variety. He understood that the Hutchin- 
son family were in the assembly, and he suggest- 
ed that they should be called upon for a song. — 
The announcement was received with enthusias- 
tic applause, and Mr. Jesse Hutchinson came for- 
ward and stated that he was the only member of 
the Hutchinson family in the city, but with the 
aid of some volunteers he would attempt to give 
the Convention a song. 

In c&mpany with three others, he then came 
forward, and sung a song, which was rapturously 
received, amid the repeated cheers and laughter 
of the whole audience: 

The Convention then adjourned until tomorrow 
morning at 9 o'clock. 

SECOND DAY. 
Thursday Morning, August 10. 

The meeting was called to order by the Presi- 
dent and its deliberations opened with the follow- 
ing prayer by the Rev. S. J. May, of Syracuse: 

Almighty God — the Father of the whole family 
of man — the Governor of the nations of the 
earth — the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, 
we would reverently bow before thee as the High 
and Holy One to whom all praise and honor are 
due. We rejoice that the hearts of all men are 
in thy hands. We rejoice that we may not swerve 



from truth with impunity, nor oppress our fellow 
men without its being rebuked by Thee. We 
confess before thee, who hath been the all-present 
witness of ail that has transpired in the history of our 
country, our many sins. We confess the tremen^ 
dous iniquity of holding thousands of beings created 
by Thee in bondage. We bless Thee, oh Father, 
that thy blessings yet remain with us. We rejoice 
before Thee this day that the heart of the nation 
is touched, the hearts of the people pricked, and 
the nation awakened with earnest feelings of con- 
trition for the past, and are doing works meet for 
repentance. Blessings to Thee, oh God, for the 
proceedings of this day, that Thou hast caused 
this vast multitude to come up here for the high 
and holy purpose for which it is called together — 
to deliberate upon the great question of human 
freedom. And to Thee, from whom cometh down 
all right and justice, we look that Thou may'st 
preside over, control and direct all the determina- 
tions of this Convention. May it ever battle in 
the right and proclaim the high and holy princi- 
ples upon which men are hereafter determined to 
act for the good of man, of our country and of the 
oppressed. And oh, may those who shall be call- 
ed to stand before the people as the representatives 
of these principles be true men, men who fear the 
Lord, to do right in all things. And oh may that 
feeling which has brought us together, may it in- 
crease in strength — in power — in might — influ- 
ence — until America shall become what we have 
long proclaimed her to be, the Asylum of the op- 
pressed of atl nations. May we accomplish all 
the high purposes of our Fathers, and lead those 
who are struggling in the old w r orld, as a beacon 
to light and liberty indeed. Father, we attribute 
to Thee and thy dear Son, the feeling of freedom 
which is now rising up through the country. We 
thank Thee for the gift of Thy w^ell beloved Son, 
and through Him would ascribe to Thee all hon- 
or, and praise, and gratitude forever. Amen. 

Mr. Tracy, of Connecticut, stated that in the 
appointment of the Committee on Resolutions 
his name was placed upon that Committee instead 
of a gentleman belonging to the late Whig party. 
And circumstances had since transpired, which 
caused him in self respect to decline. 

The declination of Mr. Tracy was accepted and 
Mr. J. G. E. Larned appointed in his place. 

Mr. Briggs, of Ohio, came to the stand at the 
call of the meeting. What, he inquired, has 
caused this great multitude to come up here from 
Maine to the banks of the Mississippi — from ttfe 
far North down to the middle South. We have 
not come up here to sing songs of laudation to any 
victorious General. But it is the great principle 
of human freedom which has magnetized all 
hearts — which, growing, rising, expanding, and 
lighting up the old watch-fires of liberty through- 
out the whole North, and East and West, and we 
shall, today, strike a blow upon the anvil of free- 
dom which shall reverberate the country over. 

He had no preference for men. All this he 
would sacrifice — he had sacrificed — and was ready 
to meet all upon one common platform. We had 
not come up here to discuss the questions of a tar- 
if, of a bank, or any such things as these. But 



16 



FREE SOIL CONVENTION AT BUFFALO. 



to speak and to act for free soil — free speech — and 
free negroes, too. The fires are burning brightly 
in Ohio and throughout Indiana which will con- 
sume the last remnant of slavery, and bake the 
dough faces so hard that you could not cut them 
with a bowie knife. If there were any friends of 
Gen. Cass present he would advise them to retire 
to some cool shade and read his letter on internal 
improvements to the Chicago Convention. And 
if there were any who proposed to vote for Gen. 
Taylor they should read all his letters, where he 
crosses and contradicts himself, and — 
"He wires in and wires out, 
And leaves a body still in doubt, 
Whether the snake that made the track, 
Is going South or coming back." 
He did not care whether it was that Hale-storm 
in New Hampshire, which was to sweep over the 
country, or whether the mantle was to fall upon 
the "Son of New York," with whom he had bat- 
tled in many a well fought battle; he should go in 
for the nominations with all his heart; with all his 
strength. And he should not object to its being 
the younger branch of the Van Buren stock, for 
he considered that a little better than the original. 
It had not degenerated, but had grown better, as 
it came down from father to son. Should it be 
any of these — or should it be an honored son of 
Ohio, that state would rise up from lake to river, 
and greet the selection with 20,000 majority. Or, 
could it be an honored son of one of the fathers of 
the Republic — a son of the venerable Adams — it 
would create such a feeling, such an enthusiastic 
uprising of the people that would shake the foun- 
dations of Slavery to its fall. 

The time had come when he rejoiced that they 
were to have the stated preaching of the political 
gospel. And when he heard the eloquent son of 
New York last evening, he hoped that this morn- 
ing would have brought a telegraphic despatch 
announcing the removal of Benjamin F. Butler, 
and we would have nominated him for the Pre- 
sidency, and elected him too. We would have 
shown Mr. Polk that there were some things which 
the people could do, of which he appeared to have 
little conception. 

[Mr. B. spoke at considerable length, in a very 
animated manner, during which he was repeated- 
ly interrupted by the applause of the audience. — 
But the similarity of the sentiments advanced to 
those of the preceding speakers, renders it unne- 
cessary to give his views at length.] 

Hiram Cuming, of Mass., next took the stand. 
He spoke of Massachusetts, and of her labors and 
sacrifices in the cause of freedom, in times gone 
by, and her position in regard to the great ques- 
tion now in agitation before the country. 

He would state a single fact, a significant fact to 
show the public feeling in that state. In Worces- 
ter, out of the 1600 voters, 950 were upon the free 
soil pledge. At Lowell, which you know is ruled 
by her corporations, the mass were uniting and 
concentrating, and he did not know but that they 
would take cotton bags and all, and consecrate 
them to this free soil movement. 

We must have the principle fully and faithfully 
carried out bv the nominees of this Convention. — 



And when that principle shall be laid down, the 
next step would be to select a man to carry them 
out. The next step. which would undoubtedlv be 
taken, would be to meet the efforts of the slave 
power to extend over territory now free, the nefa- 
rious system. And all the issues which now ap- 
pear to exist between the two old parties, that 
were, is a struggle to see which shall be the hon- 
ored instruments in the hands of the slave power 
to strangle liberty in these territories which have 
recently come into the Union. 

h\ the recent discussion in the Senate of the 
United States, one man threw himself into the 
breach and for four days,battled alone with the en- 
tire Slave power, until others had time to load their 
pieces and come up to the rescue. The speeches 
which followed caused the slave advocates to re- 
coil from their position and propose a compromise. 
And how admirably contrived. Upon the com- 
mittee which was to consumate this compromise, 
it was proposed to place four democrats and four 
whigs — so that the whigs could make no capital 
against the democrats — and the democrats no capi- 
tal against the whigs, but all their nicely balanced 
calculations failed. 

Mr. Birkshire, of Virginia, came forward, — 
He would say that Virginia, at this moment, was 
alive with barnburners. He had come here to 
have his say in what might be said here to-dav. 
He came up with his hands untied — free to go for 
any man who should be nominated by this con- 
vention. He thought this was the greatest crowd 
he had ever seen. When he came to look upon 
the lake at Conneaut, and saw its upheaving 
waves — and when he seen upon the lake shore 
yonder, such a vast crowd; he was ravished. He 
came here with his credentials. He published 
an anti -slavery paper in Virginia called the Crisis. 
And he would say that there were barnburners in 
old Virginia, who were in favor of coming up to 
burn up these old barns, rats and all. [The speaker 
frequently repeated fellow citizens, and Aiaeon and 
Dickinson's line, which it is unnecessary to report. 

Mr. Jesse Hutchinson was then called for, and 
came forward, and in company with others, sung 
with much effect, a song. 

Oh ! what a mighty gathering. 

From the old Free States, 
Of the friends of freedom. 
And the tillers of Free Soil. 

Let the people shout together, 

In old Buffalo; 
We're the friends of freedom, 
And our motto is Free Soil. 

Oil ! the South begins to tremble, 

The old Slave States, 
For the friends of froedom, 
Are gathering in the North. 

They will shake like old Belshazzar, 

In the old Slave States, 
For their days are numbered, 
And 'tis written on the wall. 

Heaven bless the brave Barnburners, 

In the old Empire State, 
For their tires of freedom 
Are lighting up the land. 






FREE SOIL CONVENTION AT BUFFALO. 



17 



Oh ! we pity the old Hunkers, 
Yes ! we pity the old Hunkers, 
Poor broken-down old Hunkers, 

Iia the old Empire State; 
They are going up Salt River, 
And will never more return. 

And the old Whig Party's rotten, 
Yes, the old Whig Party's rotten, 
All that's left is damaged cotton, 

In the Free States; 
But the fires are burning, 
Freedom's fires are burning, 
And will soon clear up Free Soil. 

Judge Nye. He exhausted himself yesterday, 
and could not say much to-day. His heart over- 
flowed yesterday with the proud and sublime spec- 
tacle presented to his view, and the current that 
flowed in his veins, these had not diminished, but 
had gone on increasing from hour to hour. Fel- 
low citizens, were I not supported by the sustaining 
considerations that your feelings are consonant 
with my own, I should not feel able to address you. 
Massachusetts has been heard; Ohio has been 
heard; Virgiuia has been heard; and for a mo- 
ment let the empire state be heard through her 
the poorest and most unworthy representative in 
this convention. 

He had been denounced as a disorganizer of 
the democratic party, to which he fiad ever been 
proud to belong. And when the few men as- 
sembled last fall at Herkimer — that tenth legion 
of democracy — they adopted a new system of mas- 
terly inactivity towards the candidates nominated 
by the conservatives of this state — who, to his cer- 
tain knowledge, had never been heard of since, 
but were lost in the noise and confusion which 
surrounded them. But the scene is now changed. 
That system of masterly inactivity had been 
thrown off, and a system of active operations 
adopted, And when he looked arouud upon what 
remained of the old democratic party opposed to 
this movement, he felt in all the sincerity of his 
heart, to inquire with Ezekiel of old: "can these 
dry bones live?" From this little beginning, this 
work had gone forward, until 150,000 — yea, 200,- 
000 of the democracy of this state, were now ral- 
lied under this banner. 

With all deference to the opinions of the gentle- 
men from Massachusetts and Ohio, he contended 
that the barnburners of New York, were entitled 
to be considered as the pioneers in this great move- 
ment. It arose from the bosom of him who the 
gentleman from Ohio, had denominated a little 
better than his father. The great principles of 
free soil were first put forth by John Van Buren, 
with firmness and directness which brought down 
upon his devoted head, the denunciations of all 
the conservative press with which the State is 
cursed, and he was pursued, day after day — year 
after year, with all the fury, which conservatives 
know so well how to employ. 

He remarked yesterday, and he repeated, that 
he came here upon this altar and under this pavil- 
lion, to lay down all asperities towards individuals. 
There should be no looking back in this matter — 
but forward — to the glorious future. Remember 
Lot's wife. There is no reason whv we should 



not harmonise. There is every reason why we 
should. We have to battle with a common enemy. 
L9t me tell you one thing, The south will not 
vote for Lewis Cass. And the north — (oh we 
have done talking about that man, said some one 
in the crowd). And let me tell Buffaionians, that 
the south will not vote for Millard Fillmore. 
Ephraim, (Ichabod, some one corrected him) is 
written on his wall, unless he bows to slavery. If 
ever he is to be Vice President, it will be as a free 
soil man. The south will vote for Butler. Al- 
ready have Louisiana and South Carolina dropped 
Mr. Fillmore — they will have none of him, He 
would advise him, if he ever wishes to be Vice 
President, to come here and ask a nomination of 
this convention. But this he could not do — he 
was joined to his idols, let him alone. 

But we are told, fellow citizens, that we are 
raising up a sectional party. This he denied. — 
This issue was forced upon us by the South. — 
Her representatives had come up to Baltimore, 
with pledges to support no man who was in favor 
of the Wilmot Proviso. And were we so dough- 
faced — had we so much a waxen nose as to be 
moulded to their views and purposes. He respec- 
ted the south, and this glorious principle of free- 
dom was doing more — much more for the south 
than it was for us. It was the great panacea for 
which the south had so long been endeavoring to 
discover. But he was told by the temporary 
chairman of the Baltimore Convention, Judge 
Bryce, that if this agitation took root, it would dis- 
solve the Union. He replied if such was the case, 
he reckoned it was pretty considerably dissolved 
now, for he knew of roots which extended not only 
through the State of New York, but reaching un- 
der Lake Erie far into the heart of the State of 
Ohio. There is no danger of dissolving the Union. 
He heard these threats in his childhood, and 
they had become unmeaning and stale. He told 
Judge Bryce, that they might as well attempt to 
retain a flock of wild geese, as to keep their nig- 
gers on the borders of the Rio Grande, and along 
the line not unaptly denominated by his friend 
from Virginia, Mason and Dickinson's line, and 
other flock of wild geese would be on the wing. — 
He thought the addition of one syllable a most 
appropriate one. And the remainder of the "col- 
ored gentlemen" would chase you back into the 
Union in a hurry at the point of the bayonet. He 
would as soon think of the Madison County being 
dissolved by her paupers, as this Union by the 
slave holders of the south. 

[Mr. N. concluded with a very beautiful and ap- 
propriate anathema against any one who would at- 
tempt or countenance in any form or manner, a 
dissolution of the Union}. 

The President said that as evidence of the 
strong interest which was manifested in the pro- 
ceedings of the convention, he had just had placed 
in his hands the following telegraphic communi- 
cation. 

Exhibit one issue — one front — one nomination 
— courage — enthusiasm — anticipate victory. 
WILLIAM WILSON, ' 
Pastor of th-e Church of Covenanters. 

Cincinnati, 10th August. 



18 



FREE SOIL CONVENTION AT BUFFALO 



Mr. Hkalky, of Pennsylvania, remarked that 
he merely wished to congratulate the vast assem- 
blage .before him on the prospects and certainty of 
success. Pennsylvania was waking up. Men 
talked of New York starting this movement. He 
might speak of a Wilinot. Did he not start this 
movement' Wilmot was not heve but his spirit 
and his principles are here, and they will triumph. 
Gentlemen might count on the co-operation of the 
old Keystone State. [Applause.] 

Robert Wilson, of Michigan, next took the 
stand. 

He said, that he hailed from the little State 
of Michigan — where the Baltimore Convention's 
nominee resides. There are some few of us — 
about 300 from tbat State among you. He should 
not take up a moment of time to satisfy the Con- 
vention that the cause was a good one. He came 
here to tell them that he was one of the instru- 
ments in the Baltimore Convention in 1344, who 
was induced by the same power which nominat- 
ed Gen. Cass in 1848, to Relieve that if Mr. Van 
Buren was nominated the party would fail, and 
with the party would fail the great principles 
which were involved in the issue. He came here 
to atone for what he had there done — to atone for 
the wrong he done to Martin Van Buren. — 
(Immense applause.) When he was made to 
believe through the instrumentality — and he was 
about to tell what those means were — which in- 
duced the delegates of the north to abandon Mr. 
Van Buren. These were the means : Almost 
every Slave State preferred Mr. Van Buren to 
Lewis Cass — not that Martin Van Buren had 
deserted the principles of the party, but that if he 
were nominated, he would certainly be defeated 
— that they could not earn* the south for him. 

It was the watchword of the two old political 
parties that we should breakup in a row— ?that a j 
convention composed of such varied elements 
could not coalesce — could not agree upon any 
platform of common and harmonious action. 
This result, so devoutly wished by them, he was 
assured from the manifestations already witnessed 
from this great multitude, that they would be dis- 
appointed. 

What man was best calculated to carry out the 
principles of this convention — (There was a pretty 
general response John P. Hale.) The speaker 
attempted to put in a word in favor of the radicals 
of the State, and their candidate, but was inter- 
rupted by the cries of " no special pleading." He 
then asked, who would bring up a man who could 
assure the thirty-six votes of New York. Such 
an one he would welcome — would embrace — be 
he whom he might. 

In regard to Michigan, he would say that al- 
though the nominee of the Baltimore Convention 
had nearly all of the democratic papers under his 
control, yet among the people there was a feeling 
deep and strong, of opposition to the spirit which 
had forced upon the country a candidate subser- 
vient to slaveholding power. It was a feeling 
which would grow stronger and deeper, until 
November, when Gen. Cass would hear a greater 
noise and confusion than prevented him from be- I 
incr heard at Cleveland. .Let us 20 then — on with 



one mind — with one purpose — with a candidate 

representing our principles — true, tried and faith- 
ful, and the grave of the old political parties is 
prepared to receive them as they shall fall before 
the effective blows of freemen given through the 
ballot box in the great contest for truth, and right 
and liberty which is rapidly approaching — nay, is 
even now upon us. 

Mr. Sedgwick, of Syracuse, said: God knows, 
fellow-citizens, that I have longed for this day. 1 
have longed to meet an assemblage like this. 

I stood in Faneuil Hall one day last year, and as 
I contemplated that old Temple of Liberty, I tho't 
that if I could ever address the people of Massa- 
chusetts, it would be the crowning glorv of my 
life. 

In the great contests in which he had engaged 
he looked to the Old 8th district of New York as 
the strong hold of principle, and he had longed to 
visit them. He saw now not only the old 8th, but 
Massachusetts and Ohio, and the great Reserve 
was here also, in the pride of her strength. He 
had acted with the whigs from childhood, but 
when he heard from the Halls of the Philadelphia 
Convention the voice of Charles Allen, of Mass., 
proclaim that the whig party was that day dissol- 
ved, he heard the announcement with deep pain, 
for he believed it to be true. We have stood by 
the whig party from year to year in success, and 
we have stood by it in trouble and in storm, but 
we have seen its end, and now shall we be chain- 
ed to its putrified corpse? (No, no.) What is 
the extent of party obligations? Does it bind us to 
the sacrifice of principle and truth, and justice? — 
Must we support any candidate, however forced 
and cheated upon us? 

Gentlemen, I have not so learned party obliga- 
tions. I have been taught to believe in principles: 
that the masses were acting for the benefit of the 
country, and that patriotism and love of country, 
entered into the strife. 

Therefore, when the name of a candidate is 
presented to me, I wish to know whether his suc- 
cess will embrace the welfare of the country or 
merely subserve selfish and scheming dema- 
gogue's. If the latter, then he would oppose the 
candidate, he would break through the coils cf 
party. (Applause.) 

Mr. Sedgewick concluded with an examina- 
tion of the principles of General Taylor, but as he 
introduced no new ideas or facts, we will not give 
his remarks. 

The speaker incidentally referred to Ireland's 
wrongs and the martyrdom of the patriot Mitchell, 
and the audience burst forth in the most enthusi- 
astic applause, which concluded with three cheers 
for John Mitchell. 

We would suggest to speakers, that if they wish 
to be reported, they must advance new ideas, as 
all the old ones have been used up long ago. It 
is almost impossible for forty or fifty speakers to 
address the same audience upon the same sub- 
ject and deal altogether in new coin, but then they 
should make short speeches. 

Mr. Giddings was called for and came forward 
amid the cheers of the audience. He commenc- 
ed an extended argument and laid himself out in 



FREE SOIL CONVENTION AT BUFFALO 



ID 



a mariner that showed he intended to annihilate 
both of the old parties, but the committee on re- 
solutions coming in cut him short, very much to 
the regret of the audience. 

The President announced that Mr. Butler, of 
New York, Chairman of the committee on reso- 
lutions, would now read the report of the commit- 
tee. This announcement was received with three 
cheers. Mr. Butler then came forward and re- 
marked, that he had the inexpressible pleasure of 
announcing, that the report which he was about 
to read to them was the unanimous reportjof the 
entire committee. This announcement was re- 
, ceived with the m ost enthusia stic applause. 

Whereas, We haTe~assembTed"rri~Uonvention, as 
a union of Freemen, for the sake of Freedom, forget- 
ting ail past political differences in a common resolve 
to maintain the rights of Free Labor against the ag- 
gressions of the Slave Power, and to secure Free 
Soil for a Free People : I ,^-^ **^ 

And whereas, The political Conventions recently- 
assembled at Baltimore and Philadelphia, the one 
stifling the voice of a great constituency entitled to 
be heard in its deliberations, and the other abandon- 
ing its distinctive principles for mere availability, 
have dissolved the National party organizations here- 
tofore existing by nominating for the Chief Magistra- 
cy of the United States, under slave-holding dicta 
tiotr, candidates neither of whom can be supported 
by the opponents of slavery extension without a 
sacrifice of consistency, duty, and self respect: 

And whereas, These nominations so made furnish 
the occasion and demonstrate the necessity of the 
union of the people under the banner of Free De- 
mocracy, in a solemn and formal declaration of their 
independence of the Slave Power, and of their fixed 
determination to rescue the Federal Government 
from its control : 

Resolved, therefore^ That we, the people here 
assembled, remembering the example of our Fa 
thers in the' days of the first Declaration of Inde 
pendence, putting our trust in God for the trmmph 
of our cause, and invoking His guidance in our 
endeavors to advance it, do now plant ourselves 
upon the National Platform of Freedom in oppo- 
sition to the Sectional Tlatform of Slavery. 

Resolved, That slavery in the several States of 
this Union which recognize its existence, depends 
upon State laws alone, which cannot be repealed 
or modified by the Federal Government, and for 
which laws that Government is not responsible . 
We therefore propose no interference by Con- 
gress with slavery within the limits of any State. 
Resolved, That the proviso of Jefferson, to pro- 
hibit the existence of slavery, after 1800, in all the 
territories of the United States, Southern and 
Northern ; the votes of six states and sixteen 
delegates, in the Congress of 1784, for the proviso, 
to three states and seven delegates against it ; the 
actual exclusion of slavery, from the Northwestern 
territory, by the ordinance of 1787, unanimously 
adopted by the State^ in Congress ; and the en- 
tire history of that period, clearly show that it was 
the settled policy of the Nation, not to extend, 
nationalize or encourage, but to limit, localize and 
discourage, slavery : and to this policy, which 
should never have been departed from." the gov- 
ernment ought to return 



Resolved, That our Fathers ordained the Con- 
stitution of the United States, in order, among 
other great national objects, to establish justice, 
promote the general welfare, and secure the bless- 
ings of Liberty; but expressly denied to the Fed- 
eral Government, which they created, all consti- 
tutional power to deprive any person of life, liber- 
ty, or property without due legal process. 

Resolved, That in the judgment of this Con- 
vention, Congress has no more power to make a 
slave than to make a king : no more power to in- 
stitute or establish slavery than to institute or es- 
tablish a monarchy : no such power can be found 
among those specifically conferred by the consti- 
tution or derived by just implication from them. 
Resolved, That it is the duty of the federal gov- 
ernment to relieve itself from all responsibility for 
the existence or continuance of slavery wherever 
that government possesses constitutional authori- 
ty to legislate on thatsubject,and is thus responsi- 
ble for its existence. . 

Resolved, That the true, and in the judgment 
of this Convention, the only^safe means of pre- 
venting the extension of slavery into territory now 
free, is to prohibit its existence in all such territory 
by an act of Congress. 

Resolved, That we accept the issue which the 
slave power has forced upon us, and to their demand 
for more slave states, and more slave territories, our 
calm but final answer is, no more slave states and no 
more slave territory. Let the soil of our extensive 
domains be ever kept Free, for the hardy pioneers of 
our own land, and the oppressed and banished of 
other lands, seeking homes of comfort and fields of 
enterprise in the new world. 

Resolved, That the bill lately reported by the 
Committee of Eight in the Senate of the United 
States, w r as no compromise, but an absolute surren- 
der of the rights of the non-slaveholders of all the 
States; and while we rejoice to know, that, a meas- 
ure which, while opening the door for the introduc- 
tion of slavery into territories now free, would also 
have opened the door to litigation and strife among 
the future inhabitants thereof to the ruin of their 
peace andjprosperity, w : as defeated in the House of 
Representatives, its passage, in hot-haste, by a ma- 
jority, embracing several Senators, who voted in 
open violation of the known will of their constitu- 
ents, should warn the People to see to it, that their 
representatives be not suffered to betray them. — 
There must be no more compromises with Slavery: 
if made they must be repealed. 

Resolved, That we demand Freedom and estab- 
lished Institutions for our brethren in Oregon, now- 
exposed to hr rdships, peril and massacre, by the reck- 
less hostility of the Slave power to the establish- 
ment of Free Government for Free Territories, and 
not only for them, but for our new brethren in Cala- 
fornia and New Mexico. 

And Whereas, it is due, not only to this occa- 
sion, but to the whole people of the United States, 
that we should also declare ourselves on certain 
other questions of National policy, therefore 

Resolved, That we demand cheap postage for 
the people ; a retrenchment of the expenses and 
patronage of the Federal Government; the abo- 
lition of all unnecessary offices and salaries ; and 
the election by the people of all civil officers in 
the service of the Government, so far as the same 
Bjav be practicable. 



30 



FREE SOIL CONVENTION AT BUFFALO. 



Resolved, That River and Harbor Improve- 
ments, when demanded by the safety and con- 
venience of commerce with foreign nations or 
among the several States, are objects of national 
concern, and that it is the duty of Congress, in 
the exercise of its constitutional powers, to provide 
therefor. 

Resolved, That the free grant to actual settlers, 
in consideration of the expenses they incur in ma- 
king settlements in the wilderness, which are 
usually fully equal to their actual cost, and of the 
public" benefits resulting therefrom, of reasonable 
portions of the public lands under suitable limita- 
tions, is a wise and just measure of public policy, 
which will promote, in various ways, the interests 
of all the States of this Union: and we therefore 
recommend it to the favorable consideration of the 
American People. 

Resolved, That the obligations of honor and 
patriotism require the earliest practicable payment 
of the national debt, and we are therefore in favor 
of such a tarif of duties as will raise revenue ad- 
equate to defray the necessary expenses of the Fed- 
eral Government and to pay annual instalments of 
our debt and the interest thereon. 

Resolved, That we inscribe our own banner 
"Free Soil, Free Speech, Free Labor, and Free 
Men," and under it will fight on and fight ever, 
until a triumphant victory shall reward our exer- 
tions. 



SEC OND D AY. 

AFTERNOON SESSION. 

The President called the Convention to order, 
and announced that Mr. Giddings would address 
the audience while they were waiting for the con- 
ferees' report. This announcement was received 
with acclamations, and Mr. Giddings came for- 
ward and addressed the Convention as follows : 
SPEECH OF JOSHUA R. GIDDINGS. 

My friends and fellow citizens. I was remark- 
ing this morning on the circumstances of the 
"Whig party in 1844. I speak of that party be- 
cause I have a right to speak of it, and I give my 
friends to understand, that for ten years I have 
represented and enjoyed the confidence of the 
strongest Whig district in the United States. I 
have been elected from it and have received the 
cordial approbation of my constituents. 

In '44 I was in favor of Henry Clay, and I say 
to you who were Whigs then, we stand where we 
stood then, opposed to the extension of that insti- 
tution which has so long obstructed the prosperity 
of the country. We stand on that ground and 
because we stand there we refuse to go for Gen. 
Taylor. In '44 Henry Clay wrote a letter, ex- 
pressly stating his position on the subject of 
slavery extension. History will hand it down to 
after time, that in that campaign he based his 
position upon just such a platform as this adopted 
here today. He explicitly denied the right of the 
Federal Government to interfere with slavery, and 
declared that its existence must depend upon the 
power and authority of the States in v:\dch it was 
situated. The supporters of Taylor cannot extort 
from him such a declaration as this of Henrv 
Clav! 



I said that history would hand down the noble 
position of Hemy Clay; the same History will 
carry down the truth, that the Whigs who support 
Taylor have deserted the principles they then pro- 
fessed. Now I will tell you another thing, I am 
not waiting for these Taylor men to make war 
upon me, I will make war upon them, (Cheers) 
and commence it.I will carry this war into Africa! 
I say that the record of truth will show that they 
have departed from their former faith, and that it 
is, because we maintain our former position, that 
they are against us now. The Whigs see now 
the" importance of standing where their leader 
stood in '44. The same power that put Henry 
Clay down in '48, put Martin Van Buren down in 
'44 — the slave power struck his name from the 
roll of candidates for the Presidency. I rejoice to 
say today that Van Buren dares to assert those 
principles for which he was then ostracised. The 
man whom I have opposed so long now occupies 
the same ground that 1 have for years maintained. 
Fellow citizens, in the campaign of '44, on every 
stump in the country, the Whigs proclaimed their 
opposition to the war and to the admission of 
Texas. We pointed the people to the blood of 
their fellow citizens fattening the soil and their 
bones bleaching upon the plains of Mexico. We 
described the mourning and lamentation which 
would spread over the land for our lost sons and 
husbands and brothers, who would fall in this un- 
just war. When we came into Congress at the 
ensuing session,the question was put to us whether 
we w T ould extend slavery ? Who deserted our 
principles then ? Was it me ? (Loud responses 
— no, no ! ! not you.) It was Southern Whigs 
— slaveholding Whigs. I say I do not wait for 
them to make war upon me — they voted for Texas 
and they have abandoned their political faith and 
their opposition to the war, and I declare to those 
Whigs who are supporting Zachary Taylor, you 
have abandoned and deserted your principles of 
'44. True, you stood by your positions when you 
supported Henry Clay, but you are now upholding 
an extension of "slavery, with its crimes and its 
inhumanity. But it is said by some that Taylor 
is opposed "to the farther extension of slavery ! — 
They say that a gentleman in Massachusetts 
(Abbot Lawrence) nas received a letter from the 
General to that effect, that he is a Whig and is 
opposed to the extension of slavery. I will tell 
you about another letter, written by Col. Boon to 
the Hon. Jacob Thompson, member of Congress 
from Mississippi. I have the word of Mr. Thomp- 
son for saying, that Col, Boone's integrity was 
never doubted and never will be denied. He said 
to me that I was at full liberty to say that he, Mr. 
Thompson, fully endorsed him as a man of truth 
and unsullied honor. It will be rememcered,that 
Col. Boone was one of a Committee of five deput- 
ed by the Legislature of Mississippi to invite Gen. 
Taylor to visit that body. The conversation de- 
tailed in the letter was had in the presence of that 
committee, two of whom were Whigs. These 
Whigs having seen the letter in print, have suf- 
fered it to pass as true and correct. Col. Boone 
says in the letter, that Gen. Taylor expressed him- 
war and of prosecuting it until 



FREE SOIL CONVENTION AT BUFFALO. 



21 



we could obtain territorial indemnity, and that the 
South ought never to submit to the WilmotProviso. 
Do you believe this? I know you will admit its cor- 
rectness. While Gen. Taylor nor his Whig friends 
who were present and heard the remaiks, dare not 
deny its accuracy, you will give credit to Col. 
Boone's statement. And if any Taylor men un- 
dertake to say that he is opposed to the extension 
of slavery, fust ask them to get Gen. Taylor's 
denial or" the denial of his friends, of the state- 
ments of this letter. 

Fellow citizens, I know that I am trespassing 
upon your time. (Cries of go on, go on.) 1 find 
that my voice is again failing, and I shall be una- 
ble to follow out any connected train of remarks. 
I am sorry to say there has been a geographical 
distinction between Whigs and Democrats from 
time immemorial. Southern Democrats have 
been opposed to Northern Democrats, and South- 
ern Whigs to Northern Whigs. (Here Mr. G. 
was interrupted by a band of music as it passed 
through the crowd.) I like that music — our 
friend Hutchinson has been giving us some that 
was cheering — but I do not like one instrument 
there, the drum. The drum is discordant in a 
moral warfare like this. The friends of peace 
appeal to the heart and the reason — to the sober 
judgment. Our appeals are to the conscience. — 
The drum seems calculated for the field of hate- 
ful strife, the din of battle, the charge of the 
deadly conflict. We can fire the moral barn, 
wherein it is sought to imprison our consciences, 
with other appliances, as is emblematically exhib- 
ited on the canvas before us. (Applause.) 

I only wish to say a word more. Fellow citi- 
zens, I feel that the consummation of our work 
draws nigh. When I heard the platform erected 
here today, and when I look back upon what has 
been done within a few years I feel inspirited and 
encouraged — I feel that our labors have not been 
lost. The attention of mankind has been drawn 
to the question of slavery, to its encroachments 
upon the rights of freemen" as well as of others. 
-!— But, my friends, my voice is again broken. I 
am surprised at this, as it never failed until yes- 
terday. I again repeat the expression of my grat- 
ification at hearing and witnessing what I have 
heard and seen today. Would to God I had the 
power to transport the House of Representatives 
from Washington to this scene to contemplate 
the moral sublimity of a mighty people rising in 
the support of the rights of humanity. Could I 
do this — could they have been here today — there 
would be no "compromise" bill passed at this or 
any future session of Congress. Why, fellow 
citizens, it must be within your recollection that 
for declaring that Congress had no power to in- 
volve the People of the Free States in the support 
of the coasticise slave trade, I was expelled from 
Congress, only six years since. Let the transac- 
tions of this day go forth to the country, and be 
sent out through the whole land, and especially to 
the ears of Congressmen who are continually le- 
gislating^pr the benefit of slavery and of the 
slave poorer, and they will cease thus to violate 
the Constitution and disgrace the freemen of our 
land. I feel that the crisis has been past — that 



the great obstacle has been surmounted. We 
have erected a POLITICAL PLATFORM to- 
day by which your Representatives in Congress 
will learn what to do in future. One thing more. 
It is a fact that at this very- moment arrange- 
ments are being made, and the energies of the 
Federal Government are put forth to bring into 
this Union the Island of CUBA! ! ! Cuba, with 
all her slavery. (Loud cries of Never, never.) 
It is not at this moment susceptible of legal de- 
monstration, but it is well understood that this is 
the case. Will you receive it? (No, no.) Will 
you consent to go into Union with the slavehol- 
ders of this Spanish Island in order to strengthen 
slavery ? To perpetuate its power? To give 
those Spanish slaveholders power over your rights 
and interests in proportion to the number of their 
slaves, counting five slaves equal to three of the 
freemen present here today? I do not believe it 
will be brought in, but before Heaven I believe 
that James K. Polk is now endeavoring to secure 
the annexation of that Island to our Union! I 
know that the fiat has gone forth from this assem- 
blage that it shall not be done. This declara- 
tion here today will defeat that treason to human- 
ity, to our Constitution, and to mankind. 

The failure of my voice takes from rue the 
physical power to say more than to thank you for 
your kind attention. 

When Mr. Giddings sat down loud calls arose 
for Douglass, who took the stand and remarked, 
that he was sincerely grateful for the opportunity 
which the Convention had given him to offer a 
few remarks on the occasion. I deeply regret 
that I cannot comply with your kind invitation, 
and I would merely rise to be excused for not pro- 
ceeding to address you. I have recently had an 
operation performed upon my throat which makes 
it improper for me to speak. One thing however 
I want to say, God speed your noble undertaking. 
(Applause.) The audience appeared to feel great 
disappointment when they learned that Mr. Doug- 
lass could not address them. 

Mr. Lapham, of New York, took the stand. A 
gentleman in the audience moved that eaeh spea- 
ker be limited to 10 minutes. Carried. Mr. 
Lapham then proceeded. He said that Gen. 
Lewis Cass when travelling recently through the 
State of New York, had surrendered" and was wil- 
ling to sign a stipulation giving up the State of 
New York, if he could have certain other States 
assured to him. It had been said of Gen. Taylor, 
that he was one of those stern men who never sur- 
render. But the circumstances under which that 
notable declaration was mad© must he remember- 
ed. It was on the plains of Buena Vista. Before 
him was a pitiable scrawny band of Mexicans, 
and with him were the flower of the American 
army. Could he but see this gallant band he 
would surrender instanter. (Cries of time is up, 
time is up.) After a few more remarks by the 
speaker, the people again cried out "time is up," 
"time is up." The gentleman gave way, and 
immediately a dozen cries, for as many different 
speakers, arese, "Field," "Codding," "Sumner," 
"the nomination," "Miller," "Scoville," Smith," 
''Jones," "the nomination," "go it," "song," 



22 



FREE FOIL CONVENTION AT BUFFALO. 



•'music," "face the music," were a few of the 
cries, in which the audience indulged. 
SPEECH OF PRESIDENT MAHAN, OF OHIO. 

It seems to me, fellow citizens, that there are 
two or three questions which we should look at. — 
One is, have we a platform on which we can af- 
ford to stand and fight the battle of Liberty? An- 
other is, whether the man, whoever he may be, 
whom we shall select will be able to carry out our 
platform? and another is, can we succeed? I 
know not (hat I shall be able to say a word to all 
these. A word about the platform. I said to my 
friends, when I came up here, that my bump of 
hope was very large and considerably excited. I 
had high expectations. Many of my friends said 
that we should fail, because we could not get up 
a satisfactory platform. That we could get none 
but a territorial platform. I said we could get up 
a broader platform. And now my friends, I ask 
the good sense of this meeting if we have not got 
a platform, on which the Genius of Liberty can 
walkthrough the length and breadth of the "land? 
(Yes, yes, yes.) When our fathers were prepar- 
ing to fight the battle of Liberty they prepared a 
platform that can never be improved. Every bat- 
tle that shall ever be fought between right and 
wrong upon the earth, will be fought upon that 
platform. And so every battle that shall ever be 
fought hereafter between Liberty and Slavery, 
must be fought on our platform. (Yes, yes, yes.) 
Liberty friends, what more could you have asked? 
(Nothing.) -Barnburners, what more could you 
have asked? (Nothing.) Whigs, what more 
could you ask for? (Nothing.) Then we have 
got our platform. 

Let us ask another question. Will the man 
whom we may select stand up to it? (Yes, yes.) 
1 tell you he will. There never was a conven- 
tion like this, that laid their platform and placed 
their leader upon it, that was ever betrayed. Prin- 
ciples make men. I tell you that individuals un- 
der the principles of liberty are born men at once, 
They come out as the ancient Goddess did out of 
the brain of the King of thunder. They come 
out armed to the teeth at once. 

Another question — can we succeed upon that 
platform ? (Yes, yes, yes.) Yes we will suc- 
ceed. Our opponents will feel about as the man 
did who came home intoxicated one night. His 
wife had spread his supper upon the table and i 
gone to bed. He came in and sat down by the 
fire and said nothing. His wife asked him why 
he did not eat his supper and come to bed. "Are 
you drunk." said she. "No," replied he, "I 
am not drunk, but I feel almighty discouraged." 
(Laughter.) They are now so discouraged that 
they can not raise a hurrah that would frighten a 
chicken. (Laughter and applause. 

J. C. Adams, of Boston. He had found that 
on setting out m political matters, it was ne- 
cessary to lay down certain principles. (Owing 
to the " noise and confusion" we were unable to 
get the first part of his remarks.) Persons were 
led away from time to time, by political excite- 
ment to do things for which they could give no 
good and sufficient reason. The Constitution of 
the country he regarded as a sufficient political 



text book, and when he entered upon his profes- 
sion, he swore to support it. And a support 
meant something more than an acquiescence — it 
meant an ardent, an active support. 

Up to the time of the Philadelphia Convention, 
he had been a Whig, and it had been often re- 
marked to him that it was unfortunate in a maa 
just entering upon public life to be found thus ear- 
ly in the ranks of rebellion. He only knew this 
movement as one of great principle — a great truth 
in human freedom which has caused thousands to 
break away from their former attachments and to 
embark in this revolution. 

He believed that the nomination made today 
would put an end to this Southern dictation — this 
giving to the north a candidate subservient to the 
interest of slavery. He did not pretend to speak 
officially for Massachusetts, but he believed that 
that State would cast as large a vote as any other 
in proportion to its numbers. In Massachusetts 
partisan organization had ceased to have any 
charm. The platform which had been presented 
today, would be hailed by the people of Massa- 
chusetts, with all the enthusiasm that greeted the 
ordinance of '87. It must satisfy even' one cog- 
nisent of the history of this country. 

Mr. Sutliffe, of Ohio, followed, and said — We 
were assembled here for a great cause. The 
cause is one which a few of us have been labor- 
ing for for some time. It is in defence of human 
freedom and against the aggressions of slavery. 
He was one of the men that assisted in organizing 
the anti-slavery platform in 1833. When Mr. 
Giddings claimed the credit of the principles for 
the Whigs, and the Barnburners claimed it for 
the Barnburners, he too, put in a claim for the 
Liberty party. But we had today adopted a new 
platform, upon which all could mount — a platform 
embracing as its basis the great principle cf fra- 
ternity. 

He would do all he could for the nominee 
this Convention. He was not afraid of any man 
who would come on to our platform. 

The Re\vW. J. May, of Syracuse, was next 
introduced. " He remarked that there were crises 
in the history of nations. There had been crises 
in our country, and happy were a people who 
knew when a crisis came and were prepared to 
act. There was a crisis when the Constitution 
was formed. There was a crisis sixteen years af- 
terwards, when Louisiana was introduced into the 
Union, and had those who were upon the stage of 
action when that crisis arose, have seen a tithe of 
what we have seen,we should not have been com- 
pelled to meet here today to raise our voices in fa- 
vor of free soil and freedom of speech. Sixteen 
years afterwards — and it was a remarkable coin- 
cidence that these important events have trans- 
pired every sixteen years — and the Missouri Com- 
promise was adopted. And had the sentiment of 
the country been right, all this agitation would 
have been avoided. Another sixteen years elapsed, 
and the revolution in Texas took place; and from 
that event has come the annexation of that coun- 
try to the Union, with it? slaver)- and slave insti- 
tutions. 

He was one cf the members of that Convention 



i 



, FREE SOIL CONVENTION AT BUFFALO. 



23 



in Massachusetts in 1845, who raised a voice 
against the annexation of Texas, and proclaimed 
the dissolution of the Union in the event that that 
nefarious scheme was consummated. And he be- 
lieved it to be their duty to dissolve this Union, for 
so long as we fraternized with slavery we live in 
sin. But when he beheld this movement which 
had culminated today, hope was renewed, and he 
looked forward to the time not far distant, when 
the aggressions of slavery shall be rolled back. 

We had been called here principally, he was 
aware, to take ground against the extension 
of slavery, and he thought it was but a small 
matter — a straining at a gnat, after we had swal- 
lowed the camel. But he, on reflection, had 
come to the conclusion that the extension of sla- 
very was one of its essential elements — one of its 
main supports, and that opposing extension we 
struck a powerful blow at slavery itself in its strong 
hold — for it lived and was perpetuated — held on 
to its power and increased it by extending its with- 
ering curses over free territory. And now he 
went into this movement heart and hand — with 
high hopes of its speedy and thorough consumma- 
tion. 

The President pro tern, read the following ex- 
tracts from a Iettej from Governor Slade, to Mr. 
Giddings : 

"Let it no longer be said, then, that we must 
go for General Taylor, lest we have Slavery ex- 
tension under General Cass. We should have it 
under either, and should therefore support neither. 
There is 'a more excellent way.' It is, to be uni- 
ted — to cease the divisions which are holding us 
in bondage to the slave power, and stand up in 
defence of our rights. 

''But can we be united? That is the great ques- 
tion. To effect the desired union, strong ties 
must be surrendered and party aversions over- 
come. The difficulty of accomplishing this is not 
to be concealed. But is it unsurmountable? It 
seems to me it is not. We are in presence of a 
very great — a common danger. It is imminent, 
demanding immediate and united action. When 
the British, with mighty power, on lake and land, 
came upon us in 1814, party strife was hushed 
and all marched, shoulder toshoulder, to meet the 
common foe. But what, really, what was that 
danger compared with this? 
"Union — then Union — should be our watchword. 
The vital interests of freedom are put at hazard, 
and the union that is doing it, I again repeat, 
must be met by union. Divided we have fallen, 
and divided we must forever fall, before the all- 
grasping, over-reaching, and never satisfied pow- 
er of Slavery. Our own interests, and the inter- 
ests of humanity alike urge us, with a voice of 
resistless entreaty, to unite and put forth our full 
strength against the daring attempt to extend and 
prolong indefinitely, the dominion and the curse of 
Slavery in our country. 

Let then, the people come together, in mass 
meetings, and taking each other by the hand, ask, 
what is there worth contending about, when this 
question of swallowing up the country, in the bot- 
tomless pit of Slavery, is brovight home to us for 
immediate decision." Let us thus do— fighting 



| this great battle with a union that shall be as the 

i heart of one man; and then having achieved avic- 

1 tory,as we surely shall,if we are true to ourselves, 

I and the cause of freedom, we will separate, and 

| fight our battles over again, if we can find it in our 

hearts to do it. But, in the name of God andhu- 

manity,letus be united now — standing firmly and 

immoveably, upon the platform of 'no more slave 

States — no more Slave territory. Free soil for 

free men.' A rally on this platform will give a 

tone and direction to public sentiment that will 

not long permit to be left undone, all that the 

Constitution will permit to be done, to separate the 

National Government from its participation in the 

guilt of Slavery." 

Mr. Briggs, of Cleveland, read the following 
"item" from the Commercial Advertiser, of Wed- 
nesday, which was received with great good na- 
ture and caused much merriment: 

" Among the delegates to the Convention in this 
city are some of the oddest looking chaps that 
ever were sc-.en. Some of them are about as ver- 
dant as a stripling just escaped from his maternal na- 
rent s apron .strings, while others look as if they 
could face a rampant, roaring buffalo without being 
in the slightest degree intimidated. Hats of all 
shapes and sizes, from the lofty bell-crown and ma- 
jestic sugar-loaf to the squatty, rimless, and insi<mifi- 
capt tub shape, are sported on this occasion. A few 
have whiskers and mustachios, hut most of them are 
diverted of these appendages. Coats that look as if 
every tailor in the country had struck out a new and 
original idea for himself, and which designate the 
wearers particular views with more expression than 
many o! the owner's faces, may also be seen. Un- 
mentionables, varying from the liberal ba°- Wat to 
thesenmpy sKin-tiglu. with legs both short and Ions 
without particular reference to the requirements of 
the wearer, help, in connection with the neat tidy 
and .fashionable appareled, to make up tiie variety — 
Every man of them has the welfare of his country 
at heart, of course, and seems to imagine he is the 
particular individual on whom the entire resposibili- 
ty oi the wnole farce rests. 

When he had finished the "item," he remark- 
ed—I think there are men here who would en- 
counter a buffalo without flinching, and lick him 
too. (Ha, ha, ha,) (The gentleman on whom 
we had depended to report Mr. Briggs' very racy 
speech, we found had left his post, and we are 
compelled to give his speech entirely from mem- 
ory.) 

He said that he cared not what kind of hat or 
coat a man had on if his head and heart were 
sound. (Applause.) As for himself he was free 
to confess that he was a devil of a rough sort of a 
fellow. (Laughter.) But he had revolutionary 
blood in his veins. He had Bunker Hill blood in 
his veins; and he would face a buffalo or anything 
else in defence of principles he loved. He' could 
not boast of noble blood, for all the noble blood they 
acknowledge in this country was Berkshire and 
Durham blood. (Great laughter.) Thev call 
this a farce, and they say no whigs are here" All 
who are whigs, say aye. (A tremendous ave.)— 
Democrats say aye. (Another big one.) All 
who will vote for the nominees of this Convention 
say aye. (A thundering response. ) All who will 
vote for Cass say aye. (Three voices respond.) 



£4 



FREE SOIL CONVENTION AT BUFFALO. 



Was that thunder I heard? All who will vote for 
Taylor say aye. (Half a dozen voices respond.) 
O what a still small voice. (Great laughter.) 

We are told that we are fanatics, and have but 
one idea. He did not want but one idea. Luther 
and a host of others whom he could name to the 
going down of the sun, and to its rising again,had 
but one great idea, and from this great idea had 
flowed and irradiated all the great truths which 
had burst upon the world. (Applause.) Mr. B. 
continued in a strain of humor, for some time with 
much effect, and kept the audience in a continual 
roar. 

Mr. Miller, of Michigan, came from a little 
state. He wished to make a few remarks. He 
recognized the members of the Convention in that 
noble language addressed by Cremieux to the col- 
ored people of France. He greeted them as friends 
— as brothers — all engaged in a glorious cause. — 
He ceased to act with his former political associ- 
ates for no other cause but that they had deserted 
and trampled upon human freedom. The speaker 
continued at some length, but the ideas were those 
which had been presented by other speakers who 
had preceded him. 

Mr. Bibb, a colored fugitive, from Michigan, 
begged leave to be heard about five minutes. He 
came up to mingle m the deliberations of this Con- 
vention with much fear — with much jealousy — 
with much apprehension — for his rights were at 
stake. He had been asked what part of the coun- 
try he represented. He had lived in Kentucky, 
in Alabama, in Missouri, and among the Chero- 
kee Indians, from whom he escaped and took up 
his residence in Detroit, where General Cass 
lived. He had the honor to be personally acquain- 
ted with him, and as much had been said about 
him, he felt some pride in the matter. Last fall 
he attempted to vote, but was repulsed from the 
polls on account of his color. All attempt was 
made a short time since to make suffrage univer- 
sal in Michigan; and in furtherance of this pur- 
pose he called upon General Cass, and asked him 
to sign the petition for universal suffrage, which 
he declined. He asked him if he was not favora- 
ble to the principle, and he replied that he was not 
at liberty to make any political declarations. And 
he hoped that the nomination of this Convention 
would emancipate Gen. Cass, and give him the 
liberty to act, if he so chooses, in favor of free- 
dom, &c. 

The speaker was asked in relation to his edu- 
cation. He replied that he had never had but 
ten week's schooling in his life, and that he ob- 
tained in Detroit about four years ago. The vest 
of whatever instruction he may have, he had dug 
out as he might, since that period. 

After a song by the Hutchinson's, and a pause, 
in which various individuals were called, Presi- 
dent Mahan, took the stand, and wished to make 
a few remarks upon the subject of the origin of 
this movement. New York claims to have orig- 
inated it, to which Ohio would enter -some objec- 
tions. But this should make no difference. It 
was a glorious movement, in which all could a- 
gree. When he came up to this tent he had heard 
a shout, a:;'.! I i! it was 0:1 account of the 



supposed nomination of a certain individual, and 
with permission he wished to say a few remarks, 
particularly to his liberty friends" He was a na- 
tive of New York, and it was known to a large 
number of his friends here, that he had never been 
an admirer of the political course of that individ- 
ual. But one thing he would say, that Mr. Van 
Buren never avowed a principle and deserted his , 
friends in carrying it out. 

He had been disappointed in the platform 
which had been laid down. It was much broader 
than he could hoped to have obtained. And he 
would ask his liberty friends, if they could have 
had the drawing'up of that platform r could they 
have produced a better. (Cries of no ! no !) It 
was broad enough and wide enough for all. And 
cannot we trust Mr. Van Buren as the candidate 
of this Convention, bearing in mind the fact that 
he never betrayed his friends. A few years ago 
where was Mr. Hale. Side by side "with Mr. 
Van Buren, fighting the battles of the democracy, 
and were he now upon this platform would we 
not trust him. (Yes ! yes !) He had the fullest 
confidence in Mr. Van Buren. He had no fears 
that one who had never betrayed his friends 
would betray them. He was bound to them by 
ties stronger than those of party organization — by 
the strong ties of a common humanity. 

Mr. Gillett, of Ohio, who had spent four 
winters in Vicksburgh, and wished to say a few 
words in relation to the pulse of the South upon 
this question. He had become acquainted with 
many of the leading men of both parties, and had 
been told by a leading democrat that if the party 
of the North would rally upon the principle of op- 
position of Slavery, he, and many others in Mis- 
sissippi were with them. 

Mr. Payne, of Wisconsin, took the stand and 
spoke as follows : 

Mr. Calhoun says men are not born but are 
produced by some other process. I care not 
whether this be true or not. At any rate quite a 
lot of them are here today, and they have come 
up to inquire about a certain barn — a slavehold- 
ing barn ; and gentlemen, after a very slight 
inspection we find that it has been used as repos- 
itory of stolen goods. 

Just at this point, a nice little row was raised 

by one of the reporters, who took exception to a 

gentleman's placing his foot in his coat pocket. 

The gentleman thought he had a right to put his 

feet where he pleased. They were his own feet. 

The disturbance caused us to lose the rest of Mr. 

Payne's remarks, with the exception of his las: 

j sentence, which was that next November Wis- 

; consin would cast her electoral vote for the nom- 

1 inees of this Convention. (Great applause.) 

The president announced that some pocket- 
I books had been found — empty, and that persons 
j could obtain them by calling at the stand. 

Mr. P>.ck, of Connecticut, said that the Free 
I Soil boys of Old Connecticut, were all right and 
i would roll up a large vote for the nominees next 
i November. He had come up here to be baptised 
I in this Free Soil principle, and he had also been 
j baptised in God Almighty's great free soil foun- 
tain the cataract of Niagara. He was not a be- 



FREE SOIL CONVENTION AT BUFFALO. 



25 



lievemn the efficacy of baptismal regeneration, 
but he thought that, as a last resort it would be 
well to baptise Taylor and Cass in this free soil 
principle. If that would not save them nothing 
would. 

Mr. Chase, of Massachusetts, told the old an- 
ecdote of the Methodist Deacon that would say 
amen, both in order and out of order, which elicit- 
ed considerable laughter. 

A gentleman in the audience announced that 
Martin Van Buren had been nominated as the 
candidate for the Presidency. This was received 
with a round of cheering, which was ended only 
by the exhaustion of the lungs of the audience. — 
Great enthusiasm prevailed. 

It having been announced that the conferees 
had adjourned to take tea, it was resolved by the 
Convention that they would also adjourn, which 
they did, to meet at 8 o'clock. 

EVENING SESSION. 

The Convention was called to order, and Wm. 
Davis, Esq., of Buffalo, addressed the meeting as 
follows : 

Mr. Chairman and Fellow Citizens:— Allow me 
to state that I had not expected to address this 
great and patriotic assembly. This is the first 
time that 1 have ever had an opportunity to address 
such a multitude, and, as a young man, I must 
feel that diffidence which always attends a first at- 
tempt to address a meeting like this. But I trust 
in the intelligence and the patriotism of the Con- 
vention to excuse me if I shall not be able to edify 
or instruct them. We have adopted a platform, 
and I trust we are now ready to carry out its glori- 
ous principles. What is the meaning of this vast 
assembly? Who of! the Cass and Taylor factions 
would dare to say that this is not a Convention 
worthy of the character of the American people, 
and ready to carry out every plan and purpose 
which the welfare of our country demands. We 
have been told by all parties that this is not the 
time for such a Convention as this. And why 
have we been thus told? The South wants a lit- 
tle more plunder, and the obedience for a longer 
time of Northern dough-faces. [That's it — give 
'em Jesse.] This is our plan and purpose — to 
give such nominations to the people, as shall ena- 
ble them to elevate and brighten, and edify the 
country and the government. (Applause.) Let 
us then turn a deaf ear to all these insinuations 
and protestations of our opponents^ and uniting 
together upon the great principles laid down in 
our platform — march forward, undismayed — turn- 
ing neither to the right hand or to the left — but 
keeping our eye steadily fixed upon the great 
end which we have so much at heart, [and vic- 
tory shall crown our efforts. [Great applause.] 
The Chairman announced that Mr. Bird, of 
Mass., wished to say a few words to the Conven- 
tion. (Cries of Bird ! Bird, spread your wings ! 
Soar high.) 

Mr. Bird spoke as follows: Gentlemen, I had 
not intended to make a speech. I am unexpect- 
edly placed in a position which I now occupy. I 
have only a few words to say, and that upon a 
point upon which I have been requested to speak 



to this audience. They are matters of fact. A a 
effort is now making by the Taylor papers t° 
prove that John Quincy Adams spoke approvingly 
of the expected nomination of Gen. Taylay, — 
(Louder — we can't hear you) — and it was thought 
best to state a few facts in relation to this matter, 
that they might reach the sooner, all portions of 
the Union, than they would by the means which 
are now being taken to place them before the peo- 
ple of this country. No man, who knew Mr. Ad- 
ams, can suppose for one moment, that he could 
ever have wished for the nomination of Gen. 
Taylor, unless it should have been with a view to 
the accomplishment of the very purpose which it 
has brought about. It may be that that far-see- 
ing man anticipated in the first place, the nom- 
ination of Gen. Taylor, and, as a consequence 
of that nomination, "the breaking up of both of 
the old parties and the bringing about this union 
of good men and true of all political parties which 
we see here today. It may be that Mr. Adams 
spoke as the gentlemen, who says he did — for they 
are men of honor — in such a manner that his 
words can be twisted into an approval of the sup- 
port of Gen. Taylor. But there are men in Mas- 
sachusetts who knew John Quincy Adams inti- 
mately, and they feel and know that that he never 
would have approved of the election of Gen. Tay- 
lor to the Presidency of the United States. (Cries 
of no, no, no.) The last meeting that the " old 
man eloquent" ever attended, was a meeting of 
'*' conscience Whigs," in Boston, held at the office 
of his only son. And he approved of the ground 
taken by them. And it is known that the elder 
x\dams approved most cordially the opposition 
which his son has headed for the last six years 
against the slave power. It is hard, my friends, 
to prove a negative, but those who knew Mr. 
Adams intimately, cannot believe that that man 
who had been battling for seventeen years against 
the slave power — cannot believe that he could, 
under any circumstances, approve of the nomin- 
ation of a man, who, if elected, will do more 
than any other living, to aid the encroachments 
of this power. I have nothing farther to say up- 
on this point, I only wish to assure our friends 
here, that the-facts in relation to this matter will 
be put right, and that whatever posthumous aid 
the Taylorites may expect to get from Mr. Adams 
they will be disappointed. (Applause.) 

The audience here called loudly for Mr. Ad- 
ams, but he begged to be excused, inasmuch as 
he felt so exhausted by the labsrs of the day, that 
he had no more voice left than would be necessa- 
ry to perform the duties of his station. But he 
would introduce to the audience a gentleman from 
Ohio, who had made himself known to the coun- 
try by his course in the House of Representatives 
upon the slave question, who might, indeed, be 
almost considered the father of the Wilmot pro- 
viso. He would introduce to them, Mr. Brinck- 
erhoof. 

Mr. Brinckerhoof, came forward amidst great 
cheering, and in a voice, every tone of which 
smote upon the ear like a brick bat, said : 

Fellow Citizens : I am not a very promising 
subject. (Ha, ha.) But I will make you one 



FREE SOIL CONVENTION AT BUFFALO. 



promise, and that is, that 'I will be brief. (Oh, 
no, give us a good speech.) So that in case 1 
should be tedious your tortures will not be protrac- 
ted. (Laughter and applause.) I will, on an- 
other condition, make you another promise, and 
that is, that you shall be tolerably still — or as the 
Paddy said, " if you cannot be aisy, be aisy as you 
can be aisy," (Laughter) and I will make you 
hear, for I believe you can do it. (Ka, ha, what 
a devil of a voice.) 

When I was a small boy and went to school, I 
read the Testament. (Have you read it since,' 
some one cried out.) And one of the questions 
there was what went ye out into the wilderness 
to see ? Let me slightly paraphrase the question 
and ask you, what come ye up here to see ? (To 
see Brinckerhoof.) A man in soft raiment ? 
(No.) A reed shaken by the wind ? (No.) To 
see the mighty up turning of the great deep of 
public opinion — such as is stirring in the popular 
mind, such as the annals of this country give no 
account of. To see such a demonstration of pub- 
lic sentiment in favor of free speech and free soil 
as will make the advocates of slavery propagand- 
ise tremble ? If you have, you will see it. 

You will see men by the side of David Wilmot, 
Hannibal Hamlin and others, under trials that 
made us sick for a week, but who held on, still 
having faith like unto a grain of mustard seed, 
that you, after your noses had been held to the 
grindstone till they were ground completely off, 
and the grinding had reached to your eyelids, that 
you would be aroused to a sense of your responsi- 
bility and come to our aid. And now, thank God, 
3'ou have been aroused, and have come up to aid 
us in the struggle, and you will, T doubt not, reap 
the fruits of your doings. "What went ye out in- 
to the wilderness to see?" What came our ene- 
mies here to see? They have prophesied dissen- 
sions and strife, they have said that this Conven- 
tion would be composed of such discordant ele- 
ments that they could never be united, and they 
have been sneaking around here, day after day, 
.p. the hopes of witnessing the fulfilment of their 
prophecies. But they have been diappointed, and 
I glory in the torture they experience under it. — 
(Cheers.) We were not — I can now speak author- 
itatively — we were not such fools as to quarrel for 
the especial gratification of the Presidential Ba- 
kers, Thomas Ritchie & Co. (Laughter.) We 
were not so very near what one of the Presiden- 
tial candidates would be if a letter of his name 
were omitted (ha, ha, ha,) as to fall out by the 
way. We were not so much disposed to rejoice 
the hearts of that pattern of all that is spaniel-like 
— that prince of blatherskites , (great laughter,) 
Daniel S. Dickinson, of New York. I heard a 
Senator the other day, from a Western State, pre- 
tending to represent one of the States blessed by 
the ordinance of 1787, in a company of Southern 
men, say that he was ashamed of his native State 
— New York. I am a native of New York. What- 
ever I am I owe to her common schools, the pro- 
duct of her free soil, and I have never seen any 
thing in her to be ashamed of, except that she 
gave birth to him. 

No, fellow citizen*, we have not quarreled. We 



will not quarrel for the especial gratification of 
these men. The waters are moving this great 
multitude, which no man can number, which de- 
fies the powers of Arithmetic, and all the powers 
of the infernal world, and John C. Calhoun, to 
boot, (laughter,) cannot stop it. We, the first 
martyrs in this modern Wilmot Proviso move- 
ment were the anticipators of this thing, and we 
rejoice over it, and rejoice in this compromise of 
personal and party interests. The people have 
got hold of it, and will carry it on. 1 mentioned 
the name of John Calhoun. I am no admirer of 
him, nor of the Satanic system of political philos- 
ophy of which he is the exponent. But I do agree 
with him that the country is in the midst of a cri- 
sis — an important — a momentous crisis. And it is 
for you — the people — to decide the question — the 
most important ever submitted to the deliberations 
of a free people since our own revolutionary era — 
whether or not the vast acquisitions which we 
have made upon the shores of the Pacific — the 
foundations of mighty empires — the home of un- 
born millions — which have been purchased, and 
cheaply, too, by all the blood and treasure which 
have been expended for them — it is for you to de- 
cide whether they shall be the theatre of free la- 
bor — the home of free mind — of enterprise — 
of progressive civilization — the land of com- 
mon schools — or whether they shall be cursed with 
manacled labor — where enterprise dies out of it- 
self — where the common school is impossible — 
where labor is dishonorable and therefore unpro- 
ductive — where the hot and burning feet of the 
slave scorch its plains and hill, into barreness. It 
is for you to decide this momentous question. — 
Shall it be decided in favor of freedom — man and 
humanity, or of slavery, injustice, oppression, vil- 
lany. (By the crowd, freedom, freedom.) Well, 

my friends, upon you — you the people the 

sovereign people rests a fearful responsibility. — 
Dont trust to politicians. You have trusted them 
too long already. Trust only yourselves — your 
own generous instincts — your own sagacious judg- 
ment — your own upright intentions — uninfluenced 
by the hope of office. Trust to them, and attend 
to your own interests. Why, what difference 
j does it make to you who is President ? You do 
j not expect to be appointed on a foreign mission, 
| or to a seat in the cabinet, or to a clerkship in the 
I post office. It makes no difference to you who is 
President, But it is of vast consequence to you, 
individually, whether or not, you give an honest 
vote. Is it not of importance to you whether you 
give a vote which shall commend itself to your 
consciences, and upon which you can look back 
with satisfaction, not only in life, but in death. — 
Aye, surely, it is. 

"As that rising empire on the Pacific is moulded, 
so will it continue for all coming time. The 
happiness or misery 7 to be bestowed on the millions 
yet unborn, is to be decided by the mould into 
which you now cast their institutions. Shall we so 
act as that future generations shall rise up and 
call us blessed, or shall we make ourselves the fit 
objects of their curses, so that they will blush to 
name us as their ancestors? 

I heard a remark on this stand today — made 



FREE SOIL CONVENTION AT BUFFALO. 



27 



innocently, no doubt — but being made without re- 
flection, it did injustice to its subject. I heard the 
name of Locofoco used with reproach. Now, gen- 
tlemen, I have gloried in that name. Who was it 
that first gave that name to any political organiza- 
tion? William Leggett, of the city of New York, 
and I will ask your Chairman if that man ever 
breathed who advocated, with more intense zeal, 
with more glowing eloquence, and in a style 
which genius might have envied, the cause of 
freedom better than William Leggett? (No, no, 
no.) It is a fact. Would to God that he were 
alive now ! He would be with us — his voice, call- 
ing us to combat the influences of slavery, would 
be heard, eloquent as of yore. 

I glory in the name of Democrat — adopting the 
sentiments of Jefferson, who was one of the most 
consistent advocates for free soil in the great 
Northwest, and had he never done anything else 
to merit the admiration of future ages, that alone 
would have rendered him 

" One of the few. the immortal names, 
That were not born to die." 

Some of my friends have said, "Brinkerhoof, 
you are no Democrat." Why? "Because you 
don't vote for Gen. Cass." [Laughter.] Now, 
I have always been under the impression — the 
silly impression it may be thought — that democra- 
cy consisted, not in men — nor in organizations — 
but in principles. If the Wilmot proviso is not 
democracy, then Gen. Cass's democracy is entire- 
ly new. It is very green. [Laughter.] For, not 
longer ago than one year, he was loud in his com- 
plaints against John Davis for talking against 
time, and thus preventing him from having an op- 
portunity for voting in its favor. Lewis Cass was 
then no Democrat, according to the logic of his 
advocates, or else he has flopped over. Shall I 
therefore, turn. I am not made of such flexible 
material. Why, the entire North, with the excep- 
tion of three votes, went for that proviso. Where 
are they now? Gone off after a mess of political 
pottage. Let them enjoy it. [It may poison 
them.] No fear. Nothing will injure them, ex- 
cept an infusion of honesty. Give me the joy 
which arises from the sense of honor maintained — 
duty discharged, and freedom defended. [Ap- 
plause.] One year after that time I heard Gen. 
Cass speak in the Senate of the United States. — 
He then professed to be in favor of the principle, 
but said it was not the time to act upon it. But a 
short time before, he thonght it was both the time 
for action and expedient to act. Now I cannot 
turn with him. I defy Gen. Cass to contradict 
this statement. If he attempts it, I can bring the 
testimony of nine men — every one of them as 
good as myself — to substantiate what I have said. 
[We don't want them — your word is sufficient.] 
He knows it is true, and" hence the expression in 
his letter, "he thinks there has been a change 
coming on in the public mind, and in his own." 
[Great laughter.] I would respect Gen. Cass's 
opinions, if I thought they were sincere. I res- 
pect the sincere opinions of any man though they 
lead to change, for I have experienced such my- 
self. Eut I believe that Gen. Cass thinks as I do 



that the proviso is both expedient and constitu- 
tional. I believe that he put his hand in his bo- 
som and took out his soul and laid it out in view 
of > the devil for the purpose of receiving a little 
temporary elevation. Let the North repudiate 
him. I believe the South will, and if they do, 
perhaps there will be others getting up parties to 
burn barns. [Laughter.] 

Gentlemen, I said I would be brief. (Goon, 
go on, we like the way you talk.) I cannot go 
on — my health is feeble — it has always been 
feeble, and nothing else, and thanking yoti for 
your kindness, I wiil relieve you. (Great ap- 
plause, and three cheers for Brinckerhoof.) 

Mr. J. R. Doolittle, of Wyoming county, N. 
Y., was then loudly called for. He came forward, 
and in a singularly full and pleasing voice, com- 
menced addressing the assembly, in a very elo- 
quent and forcible manner, but was cut short at 
the commencement, by the arrival of the com- 
mittee of conferees, announcing the nominations. 

After considerable delay, the conferees obtain- 
ed their seats, when, S. P. Chase, of Ohio, 
Chairman of the Committee, announced that 
MARTIN VAN BUREN, had been unanimous- 
ly selected as their candidate for President of the 
United States. 

This announcement was received with the 
most enthusiastic demonstrations. Hats, and 
banners, and handkerchiefs were waved, and 
cheer followed cheer. 

Mr. Chase remarked that a letter from Mr. 
Van Buren had been received, requesting that his 
name might not be allowed to interfere with the 
action of the Convention — declaring it to be the 
greatest convention that had been held since the 
Congress of 1787. (Cheers.) Mr. Chase con- 
tinued, I am further instructed by the Committee 
to present another name, as a candidate for the 
Vice Presidency — a name honorable, not only for 
the actions of him who bears it, but more honor- 
ed still by those of the " old man eloquent" his 
father. (Great applause.) The convention has 
anticipated that name, and renders its announce- 
ment only a mere form — but a form which must 
be gone through with. I present, therefore, as a 
candidate for the Vice Presidency, the name of 
CHARLES FRANCIS ADAMS, of Massachu- 
setts (Great cheering.) What action will the 
convention take upon these recommendations ? 
(We will adopt them by acclamation. ) And they 
were thus adopted. 

Mr. Noble, of the District of Columbia, moved 
that a committee, consisting of Benj. F. Butler, 
Joseph L. White and S. P. Chase, be appointed 
to inform the nominees of this convention of their 
nomination, and request their acceptance, which 
was adopted unanimously. Mr. Chase remarking, 
that in spite of all that their enemies could do — 
and of their predictions of strife and conten- 
tion, the convention did every thing unanimously. 

Mr. Wills, on behalf of the Pennsylvania dele- 
gation, moved that John Van Buren, be requested 
to waive all personal considerations of delicacy, 
and invited to stump the State of Pennsylvania. 
(We want him in New York. He must stump 



S3 



FREE SOIL CONVENTION AT BUFFALO. 



Ohio — they need him in Mississippi. Let him 
stump the world. ) 

The resolution was finally passed inviting Mr. 
Van Buren to stump the United States generally. 

We will here state that the conferees held their 
meeting, while selecting the candidates, at the Uni- 
versalis! Church on Washington street. We could 
not ohtain admittance to their deliberations, as all 
persons not belonging to the committee were, very 
properly, excluded. We learn, however, that Mr. 
Chase, of Ohio, was called to the chair. After the 
organization, Mr. Butler, of New Yprk, was reques- 
ted by the committee to give any information he 
might possess in regard to Mr. Van Buren's views in 
reference to the action of the convention, whereupon 
he addressed the committee at length on the move- 
ment of the real democracy of New York, and the 
posture in which they stood towards Mr. Van Buren 
as the nominee of the Utica convention. In the 
course of his remarks he read a letter from Mr. Van 
Buren, which we give in another place. The letter 
was received with great applause. 

Mr. Butler, of New York, followed its reading 
with a speech of some length, in which he approved 
most cordially of the resolutions adopted by the con- 
vention, and expressed the belief that Mr. Van Bu- 
ren, if nominated by the convention, would accept 
the nomination. 

Mr. H. B. Stanton, of New York, then announc- 
ed that Mr. Hale was willing to submit to the action 
of this convention. 

The conferees then proceeded to an informal ballot 
for President with the following result : 

Whole number of votes. - - 466 
For Martin Van Buren. - - i'^4 

ForJ.P.Hale, - - - - 181 
For all others, .... 
Mr. Van Buren's majority over all, SJ2 

When the result was announced Mr. Leavitt, of 
Massachusetts, made a most eloquent speech, and 
moved the unanimous nomination of Mr. VAN BU- 
REN, which was seconded by Mr. Lewis, of Ohio, 
in an appeal to the friends of Hale, which we have 
seldom heard surpassed. The motion was adopted 
by acclamation. The cheering at this moment was 
terrific. The conferees adjourned for tea. 

On their re-assembling, it waa agreed to proceed 
to the nomination of Vice President. The name of 
Mr. Giddings was withdrawn, when CHARLES F. 
ADAMS, on motion of a conferee from Ohio, was 
nominated for Vice President by acclamation. 
Shortly after the conferees adjourned to make their 
report to the convention. 

Hon. Joseph L. White, of the city of New 
York, was loudly called for, and addressed the 
Convention as follows: 

Mr. Chairman, and Fellow Citizen* : — I 
find myself, for the first time since I arrived at 
the years of maturity, acting politically with 
strange men, but not standing upon strange 
ground. Born and bred in the Whig faith, my 
earliest attachments were for the VV hig cause, 
and for W T hig principles, and I am proud to say, 
I still feel yearnings for my early love, and shall 
only abandon them with my latest breath. But I 
am here because I find in the platform of princi- 
ples that has been laid down by this great Con- 
vention, the ground upon which, as a man of 
Northern birth and Northern education, but of na- 
tional views, I have always stood, and, by the 
blessings of God, shall ever continue to stand. — 



Up to the period of the Philadelphia Convention, 
it was the pride as well as the pleasure of your 
speaker, to act with that great, respectable and 
distinguished party, with what I conceived to be 
a still greater — still more distinguished — still more 
respectable head — the man that I conceived to be 
not only the man of our party, but the man of the 
world, but who, by the foulest treachery of pre- 
tended friends, has recently, by the Philadelphia 
Convention, been tossed, together with Whig 
principles, and the obligations of gratitude and 
personal honor, into one common grave. And 
since that period, I have felt that the Whig party, 
as such, has abandoned its organization — that its 
principles have been discarded, and that that por- 
tion of them who assembled to perpetuate that 
work of infamy, have recorded to the world their 
determination to fight, henceforth and forever, as 
a band of guerrillas, devoid of all the obligations 
of gratitude — caring not for the welfare of the land 
that gave them birth — casting off all ties of patriot- 
ism and honor, for the mere spoils of party and 
plunder of office. 

That Convention at Philadelphia, gentlemen, I 
attended, and it is upon the actions of that Con- 
vention that I purpose to give to my Whig friends 
a chapter. When its deliberations were over, 
even* Whig who was so unfashionable as to pos- 
sess that thing called a conscience was constrain- 
ed to ask himself the question, " Where shalll 
go?" And from that period up to this Conven- 
tion, and even later than the commencement of 
the session, — aye, up to the period when you had 
the resolution to pass that honorable platform, I 
was still uncertain where, as an individual, hav- 
ing at heart the good of the country, as I believe 
I did have, I should go, and where I could com- 
mit myself — for I believed that the government of 
this country could not be administered upon any 
isolated principle — and I watched with fear and 
with trembling the action of this Committee 
upon Resolutions, for the purpose of discovering 
whether they would lay down a broad platform 
upon which Whig, Democrat, Liberty party men, 
Loco Focos, and Federals, could all stand by 
common agreement, or whether they would adopt 
one that would exclude men who thought as I 
did. I was soon, however, relieved from all fear, 
and when the Committee of which I had the 
honor to be one resolved to report that platform to 
the Convention I breathed freer — felt stronger — 
stepped lighter, and stood taller, as I do now. — 
(Applause.) W T hen I return to my constituents I 
shall feel a pride in proclaiming to my fellow citi- 
zens at all times that I shall act shoulder to shoul- 
der, hand to hand with these, my fellow citizens, 
here and elsewhere — striking such blows as I can 
in this great — this greatest of causes — the cause 
of Freedom. [Applause.] 

Follow me, my fellow whigs, for there are many 
of you here, and to you I address myself in order 
that you may carry home to your constituents, the 
observations which I shall address to you — follow 
me to the Philadelphia Convention — a body of 
men considered whigs — committed by even' ob- 
ligation of duty — of principle and of honor, not 
to travel beyond the whig party to find a candidate 



FREE SOIL CONVENTION AT BUFFALO. 



29 



for the Presidency, and to select none but a man 
pledged to support and carry out the great princi- 
ples for which that party has been struggling for 
nearly half a century. This was their duty — how 
was that duty discharged? The gratitude of the 
whig party — aye, the affections of the whig party 
all pointed to one man beyond the Alleganies. — 
There, rose and set the very sun of the party. To 
him the affections of all these delegates were di- 
rected by a confiding constituency, that when at 
Philadelphia, they would carry out the views 
of those who sent them thither. Yet, by 
the scheming politicians of the South, when it was 
discovered that Henry Clay had proclaimed no 
more slave territory; even he, the man that in 
youth and in riper age they had been taught al- 
most to deify — they were found ready to sacrifice 
upon the altar of this institution, hecause they 
thought that he was too much attached to north- 
ern-institutions — to northern principles and to 
northern men. And they took up, and presented 
for the suffrages of the whigs of this Union, what 
I have denominated a living insult to the intelli- 
gence of its members. Who was he whom they 
presented to us as our candidate? A man who 
had distinguished himself in civil service? No! 
He had fought four battles and written four ac- 
count* of them, and therefore, he was to be our 
candidate. An honest old gentleman, who in the 
honesty and simplicity of his rough western na- 
ture, told them plainly, I have not the qualifica- 
tions for this place, but if you choose to make fools 
of yourselves and vote for me, I will do the best I 
can for you ; but God knows what it will be, for I 
don't. (Great laughter.) Well, this old man's 
nomination by the schemers of the South was an- 
ticipated, and ^thinking it to be rather an anoma- 
lous position for a party Jo be placed in, they un- 
dertook to question him upon his principles. In 
one letter he informed them that he was a whig, 
but not an ultra whig. All this went very well; 
but after that a gentleman of Louisiana wrote him 
to ascertain what were his opinions upou the Ta- 
rif and the Mexican War. His answer was that 
in relation to the latter, he was engaged in it him- 
self, and as for the former, he had passed his life 
in camp and had never had time to examine it. — 
Thus, we get a definition of what General Tay- 
lor means by a "whig, but not an ultra whig." It 
is a whig without opinions. 1 was not willing to 
trust such a whig. Upon the principles for which 
the whigs had been battling for forty years, Gen- 
eral Taylor had no opinions. He was nominated 
— a whig without opinions, and without conceal- 
ments, for he took good care to tell you all he 
knew; and he took especial care to let you know 
that that was, nothing. He took care also, to in- 
form you that he would not veto any bill which 
Congress might choose to pass, but he would ex- 
press no opinions and give no pledges. Now, I 
understand the principles of this government to 
be that at the ballot box the popular will is to be 
represented; and how shall this be done unless 
the voter knows what principles he is supporting 
when he casts his votes. 

Our candidate? are, or should be, the expo- 
nents of our principles. We do not vote for men 



but for principles. But who knows what princi- 
ple he is voting for when he casts his vote for 
Gen. Taylor? He requires us to go it blind and 
trust to circumstances. If under such circum- 
stances, I could have got my own consent to go 
for Gen. Taylor, I should have considered that I 
would be bound to subscribe to all the acts he 
might choose to perform, (That's a fact,) because 
by so voting, I should have authorised him to 
perform any act he might choose to perform. It 
would be, in fact, investing him with all the au- 
thority of all the despots of the old world. Has 
one Whig — has one American citizen, any dis- 
position to confer upon him or upon any one else 
that power ? (No. no.) Well, Gen. Taylor was 
nominated and after his nomination a gentleman 
from Cincinnati addressed him for the purpose of 
ascertaining whether he would veto or sign a bill, 
prohibiting slavery in the new territories. Now, 
election was over, "high reaching Buckingham 
had grown circumspect." His answer was sent, 
' he had no intention to express any opinions on 
questions of policy." He did not even consider 
it a question of principle. I could not give my sup- 
port to such a candidate — the candidate of a party 
neither Whig, Democrat, Native American nor 
Liberty party, but of a new party which I think 
can only be described by calling it Miscellaneous, 
(Ha, ha,) and I cast about to find a platform on 
which I could stand. I have found such a plat- 
form and on it I stand. (Applause.) 

Perhaps, gentlemen, it is possible that this old 
man may be elected. [No, no.] If he is, what 
sort of an administration wili he have? [Miscel- 
laneous.] Miscellaneous, some one says. True 
— pledged to nothing but himself, you would find 
this government turned into a kind of military 
hospital for sick, sore and superannuated soldiers. 
Imagine that that old man occupied the white 
house. Bewildered by the strangeness of his po- 
sition, he would surround himself by his friends 
from the army, for, as I understand it, he has not 
slept in a civilized bed for forty 3'ears, and of course, 
his only friends and associates have been those of 
the camp. On one side you would see Corporals, 
wounded in the leg or arm. On the other, a Colo- 
nel, wounded, in the face, of course. [Laughter.] 
Here you would see a Captain stumping it thro' 
the avenue with a wooden leg — and then a Major 
parading his epauletts and plume, minus an arm. 
You would see this motley assemblage thronging 
Pennsylvania Avenue, and the places of emolu- 
ment and trust, occupied by these friends of this 
old man — their only fitness for the various offices, 
derived from the accidental accuracy of a Mexican 
bullet. (Laughter.) 

I remember that in 1828 and 1832 we made this 
country, as Whigs, vocal with our denunciations 
j of men military being raised to the Presidency on 
| account of their military qualifications. But Gen. 
Jackson had been a distinguished Senator in Con- 
gress and an able Judge in Tennessee, and the 
mere part of his military qualifications was no 
serious objection to him, and our mouths were 
thus stopped. But now, in 1848, this same con- 
scientious Whig party that taught me this prin- 
ciple in 1828, and '32, by way of showing the ut- 



30 



FREE SOIL CONVENTION AT BUFFALO. 



ter insincerity of all party professions, presents, 
for my suffrage, a man fresh from the goary battle 
field, with no qualifications except that which he 
has wrought out by his sword. Such was not the 
purpose for which the Whig party was organized, 
and such was not its character, as I understand it. 
And when at Philadelphia, it turned executioner 
and sexton of its principles, I turned from it, and 
was alone until this Convention took me to its 
arms, God bless it. (Applause.) I confess,gen- 
tlemen, and the motive of integrity ..compels me 
to confess, that there is still another consideration 
which induces me to take the course I have here, 
provided that I could stand upon principles dear 
to me of old. And that is the manner in which 
Henry Clay was treated by the Philadelphia Con- 
vention. In all my love for the principles laid 
down in your platform, there mingles much of 
personal hate and a strong desire to avenge the fate 
of Henry Clay. I claim no exemption from any 
of the imperfections of men. 

I desire to fight with free soil men while they 
fight, but when they adjourn, I will fight on my 
cwn hook, and under my own banner, and that \ 
banner shall be liberty and revenge. 

It has been charged by the South that this is an 
aggressive movement upon them, for the purpose 
of destroying their domestic institutions. That 
question we have put at rest in the platform which 
has been reported today. Denying all right to in- 
terfere with the internal policy of the various 
States, we plant ourselves upon free soil, and tell 
our Southern brethren that not one inch further 
shall your institution of slavery go — and we say 
to them, this soil must remain free — endorse it if 
you can — try it if you dare. (Great applause.) 
Long enough have we endured the sneers and 
the encroachments of the South. We have en- 
dured it until toleration has ceased to be a virtue, 
and now we plant ourselves upon the platform 
that our fathers planted themselves upon, and say 
to the South, "Beware, the blood of the Round 
heads is aroused !" 

I wish I had time to proceed farther in this dis- 
cussion. I would like to argue the question of the 
power of Congress to exclude slavery from the ter- 
ritories, but I feel myself bodily exhausted — men- 
tally, I shall never die. What I ask, gentlemen, 
in conclusion, is, that when we go home from this 
place that every man shall go with a determina- 
tion to spare no pains, uo time, no exertion to 
achieve that victory which the justice of our cause 
will in the end ensure if we will only do justice to 
that in which we are engaged. As Northern men 
we have a duty to perform to ourselves, to human- 
ity, to truth, to justice, to the world. And if by 
the trickery of slave power freedom is again strick- 
en down, when we put our heads upon our pil- 
lows let it be with the convictions at lea6t, that our 
duty has been performed, and while the groans 
and cries of their victims mingle with the trium- 
phant shouts of their victories, we can look Hea- 
ven in the face and sav, " Thou canst not sav I 
did it." 

One word in relation to the candidates. In 1340, 
then a resident of the State of Indiana, although 
.born and reared in this my native state, I had the 



honor of being an elector upon the Harrison tick- 
et, and in 1844 I made the woods of Indiana vo- 
cal with my denunciations against the policy of 
Martin Van Buren. But times have changed 
and men are changed with them. Mr. Van Bu- 
ren, new I can as cordially go for as in 1340 I op- 
posed him; (great cheers,) and it is for the rea- 
son that this, my motto, has ever been "princi- 
ples, not men." (Applause.) I do not* know 
Martin Van Buren in this contest. All I know, 
is, that circumstances have placed him in the van 
as the leader of freedom's hosts, and while he is 
there, and I am actuated by the sentiment of eter- 
nal hostility to the slave power, I am nothing but 
a private in the army, bound to fight for the com- 
mon cause. (Great applause.) So nvuch for this 
candidate, and as for the other, I cannot separate 
him from his father (applause) and when I cast 
my vote for him I shall see standing side by side 
the substance of the son and the spirit of the" fath- 
er. (Applause.) All are merged now in one 
common party. (Name it.) It is the "Free Soil 
Party." (Great applause.) All past predilec- 
tions and prejudices are to be forgotten. Here up- 
on the altar of our country's truth they must be 
sacrificed. My attachment to this party is the re- 
sult of circumstances and not of choice*. 

When the Whig party was dissolved by the ac- 
tion of the Philadelphia Convention, I was forced 
to turn my attention elsewhere. When they sac- 
rificed that noble heart upon the altar of despot- 
ism, I felt the time for action had arrived. Henry 
Clay, as long as exalted Patriotism, transcenden- 
tal Genius, nobleness of Soul, and love of Free- 
dom, shall command the respect of the Minds and 
sway the impulses of the Hearts of men, the name 
of Henry Clay shall be cherished with love, and 
admiration and delight. (Enthusiastic applause.) 
Next to this now stands him whom I have fought 
from my earliest youth. That man is Martin 
Van Buren. [Tremendous cheers.] When I 
saw this man that I had formerly believed to be 
timid, cautious and calculating; this man enjoy- 
ing the universal confidence and affection of the 
great Democratic party, willing to sacrifice all this 
personal regard and forfeit all this public confi- 
dence and esteem, and plant himself upon the 
spot where Freedom dwelt, and bid defiance to 
j the South; it was a sublime spectacle — it was the 
! poetry of politics — it was the religion of patriotism. 
j [Applause.] 

When I saw it, then and there, on that occa- 
j sion did" I surrender up all personal prejudices 
I against that man. (Applause.) I say, fellow 
citizens, that a man like this deserves the favor, 
the support, the honorable mention of every lover 
of liberty in this and other lands. (Yes, yes, he 
does.) And that we may be able hereafter to re- 
ward him with the office to which we are all 
striving to elevate him, shall ever be the effort, 
as it now is the prayor of him who now addresses 
you. 

Mr. Lewis, of Ohio, next addressed the meet- 
ing. He said, on taking the stand, that he had 
but a few words to say, and would detain the au- 
dience but a moment, and we believed him, and 
consequently did not attempt to report him, but he 



FREE SOIL CONVENTION AT BUFFALO. 



31 



kept on talking and talking, and saying and say- 
ing, till he said one of the longest and best speech- 
es, (so we are informed,) that was made before 
the Convention. We were sorry after he got 
through that we had not reported it, although if we 
had the probability is that we would have been ab- 
solutely killed off — an event which would have 
been anything but pleasing to us — for we had sat 
from 9 o'clock in the morning till 11 at night, with- 
out dinner or supper, reporting and writing out 
Free-soil reports, till it seemed as if we were no- 
thing but a mass of Free-soil ourself. However, 
notwithstanding our fatigue we would have repor- 
ted Mr. Lewis had he not put us to sleep by say- 
ing that "he would only say a few words." Let 
this be a caution to public speakers in futnre, and 
especially to Free-Soil orators. We are an out 
and out Free-Soiler and would like to save every 
really good durable remark upon the subject. 

At the conclusion of Mr. Lewis' remarks, Mr. 
Butler of New York offered the following resolu- 
tion, which was adopted with great applause. 

Resolved, That Jchn P. Hale, of New Hamp- 
shire, by his fearlessness, fidelity and ability as a 
senator, and the readiness, disinterestedness and 
patriotism with wbich he placed himself, though 
a candidate already in nomination, at the disposal 
of this Convention, has entitled himself to the 
lasting gratitude of the friends of human rights 
and of the great cause of true Democracy. 

Hon. Steven C. Phillips, of Massachusetts, 
said that, Massachusetts felt honored by the dis- 
tinguished complement which the Convention had 
so unexpectedly paid her. Massachusetts had got 
even-thing she asked for, in the platform of the 
Convention. She could enter the contest with a 
stout heart to battle valiantly in support of such a 
platform. And again he would say that Massa- 
chusetts had been honored by the action of the 
Convention, for in honoring the Adamses they 
honored Massachusetts. (Applause) 

But he would not make a speech, (go on, go 
on,) He inly wished to state a fact and he hoped 
that the reporters would be careful to do it justice, 
because interested and unscrupulous parties were 
busily engaged in the work of calumny and mis- 
representation, and would resort to all and every 
means, however false and despicable, to accom- 
plish their objects. It had been said that Massa- 
chusetts had been bribed by the candidacy for the 
Presidency. (No, no, no,) Now he wished to 
state distinctly, and in the most positive language, 
that the nomination of Charles Frances Adams 
for the Vice Preridency of the United States, by 
this Convention, was in no manner or sense sug- 
gested, intimated, or even desired by a single 
member of the Massachusetts delegation. (Ap- 
plause.) It was not even thought of by any one 
of them. It was proposed by a member of the 
Ohio delegation. (Applause.) Massachusetts 
did not seek this honor at the hands of the Con- 
vention, but she thought no less highly of it, and 
she will sustain the act she would not have pro- 
posed, (Cheers) From this time forth till vic- 
tory shall crown our efforts, the rallying cry of 
Massachusetts shall be Van Buren andFree-Soil, 
Adams and Liberty. (Enthusiastic cheers.) 



The Hutchinsons sung one of their melodious 
and spirit-stirring and soul-enlivening son<r S . If 
the Huthinsons only possessed the power of ubi- 
quity, and would attend even* Free soi I gathering 
from now till November, Martin Van Buren would 
be elected President of the United States to a cer- 
tainty. At any rate, we would give our opponents 
Jesse. 

A resolution of thanks to the Officers of the 
Convention was passed; also 

A resolution of thanks to the inhabitant* of 
Buffalo for their kindness' and attention to mem- 
bers of the convention. 

Dudly Field, Esq. of New -York, then read 
the following letter from Mr. Van Buren, which 
was received with three cheers. 

LlNDENWALU, Aug. 2, 1348. 

Gentlemen: — It has occurred to me that a direct 
communication of my feelings upon a single point, 
may, in one event, serve to remove embarrassment 
in your action at Buffalo. You all know from my 
letter to the Utfca Convention, and the confidence 
you repose in my sincerity, how greatly the proceed- 
ings of that body, in relation to myself, were opposed 
to my earnest wishes. Some of you have also had 
opportunities to satisfy yourselves, from personal ob- 
servation, of the sacrifices of feeiings and interests 
which I incurred in submitting my future action to 
its control. None of you need be assured of the ex- 
tent to which these feelings were relieved by the 
consciousness that in yielding to the decision of that 
body, that the use of my name was necessary to en- 
able the ever faithful Democracy of New York to 
sustain themselves in the extraordinary position into 
which they had been driven by the injustice of oth- 
ers, I availed myself of an opportunity to testify to 
them my enduring gratitude for the many favors 1 
had received at their hands. 

The Convention, of which you form a part. may. 
if wisely conducted, be productive of more important 
consequences than any which has gone before it,save 
only that, which formed the federal Constitution! In 
one respect it will be wholly unlike any political 
Convention which has been held in the United States 
since the present organization of parties. It will, in 
a great degree, be composed of individuals, who 
have all their lives been arrayed on different sides in 
politics, state and national and who still differ in re- 
gard to most of the questions that have arisen in the 
administration of the respective governments, but 
who feel themselves called upon, by considerations 
of the highest import, to suspend rival action upon 
other subjects, and unite their common efforts for the 
accomplishment of a single end— the prevention of 
the introduction of human slavery into the extensive 
territories of the United States now exempt from 
that great evil, and which are destined, if properly 
treated, to be speedily converted into a wilderness of 
free minds. I need not sny how cordially I concur 
in the sentiment which regards this great object as 
one sacred in the sight of Heaven, the accomplish- 
ment of which is due to the memories of those great 
and just men, long since, we trust, made perfect in 
its courts, who laid the foundations of our govern- 
ment, and made, as .they fondly hoped, adequate pro- 
vision for its perpetuity and success, and indispensa- 
ble to the future honor and paramount welfare of our 
enlire confedency. 

It may happen, in the course of the deliberations 
of the Convention, that you become satisfied, that 
the great end of your proceedings car., in your opin- 



32 



FREE SOIL CONVENTION AT BUFFALO. 



ion, be best promoted by an abandonment of the 
Utica nomination. You will not, in that event, want 
assurances of my uniform desire, never again to be 
a candidate for the Presidency, or for any other pub- 
lic effice; but you may apprehend that it might not 
be agreeable to me to be superseded in the nomina- 
tion, after what has taken place in regard to it. It is 
upon this point that I desire to protect you against 
the slightest embarrassment, by assuring you, as I 
very sincerely and very cheerfully do, that so far 
from experiencing any mortification from such a re- 
sult it would be most satisfactory to my feelings and 
wishes. 

Wishing the Convention success and honor in its 
patriotic efforts, and begging you to accept for your- 
selves assurances of my unfeigned respect, I am, 
very sincerely, your friend and servant, , 

M. VAN BUREN. 
To the New York Delegation in the Buffalo Con- 
vention. 

After the applause, with which the letter was 
received, was subsided. Mr. Eield remarked : 

Fellow Citizens, may I not ne permitted to say, 
after reading this letter, in the language of Eng- 
land's greatest poet. 

"Now is the winter of our discontent,'' 
Made glorious summer by this Son of New York, 
And all the clouds that lowered upon our cause, 
Are in the deep bosom of the ocean buried ! 

[Applause.] 

Let me say another thing, We have unfurled 
our banner, laid our platform, and planted our 
standard; and in the beautiful language of our 
own great poet we sa} r . 

" Forever float that standard sheet ; 
v Where breathes the foe but falls before us, 
With Freedom's soil beneath our feet, 
And Freedom's banner streaming o'er us-" 

(Great Jpplausc.) 

The Convention then adjourned, and the vast 
multitude forming into a grand procession, with 
banners streaming, drums beating and torches 
glareing, marched through some of the' principal 
streets of the citv, making the air vocal with their 
rallying cry, "VAN BUREN AND FREE 
SOIL, ADAMS AND LIBERTY. 



POSTSCRIPT TO THE REPORT. 

We have just obtained some important facts in 
relation to the doings of the committee of con- 
ferees ! ! It appears that there was a little gaging, 
in the cammittee. Mr. Butler spoke iico hours 
and a half in favor of Mr. Van Buren, while no 
one could get an opportunity to say one word for 
Mr. Hale. Mr. Butler would not place Mr. Van 
Buren on the platform any further than his letter 



woald warrant, urging that his acceptance of the 
nominafion would be a sufficient guaranty of his 
approval of the platform, 

Mr. Stanton had received a letter from Mr. 
Hale placing himself at the disposal of the con- 
vention, but Mr. S. had lost the document, He 
however placed Mr, Hale on the platform by the 
side of Mr. Van Buren, and then voted against 
him. 

Mr. Chase withdrew the name of Judge Mc 
Lean. 

It was stated that the vote of the committee 
would be entirely informal, and not at all handing 
upon the convention or the committee. With 
this assurance the members went into the- poll, 
which resulted as follows. It will be remembered 
that every state was allowed three delegates in the 
committee for each congressional district, and the 
District of Columbia, one. 

Van Buren. Kale. Giddings. Adams. Ellsworth. 



Me. 


5 


6 








N. H. 





15 








Vt. 


7 


11 








Mass. 


20 


11 


4 






Conn. 


11 


6 








R.I. 


3 


3 








N. Y. 


72 


29 


2 






N. J. 


12 


6 




2 




Pa. 


34 


32 


7 


3 




0. 


37 


31 


5 


5 




Ind. 


14 


14 




2 


3 


1115. 


16 


6 


5 






Mich. 


8 


6 




1 




Wis. 


9 


3 sc 

1 

o 


attering 


one. 




lowa } 
Del. 


1 








Md. 


4 










Va. 


1 


1 










244 


183 


23 


13 


3 


Whole number of votes cast 


. _ 


- 4G5 


Van Buren 's 


Majority 


- 


- - 


22 



As soon as the result of the poll was announced, 
a member from Ohia moved "that the vote be 
considered unanimous for Mr. Van Buren;" when 
Joshua Leavit, of Mass., arose and spoke at 
length in relation to the manner in which the vote 
had been obtained, and signified his willingness 
to go for its unanimous confirmation, although he 
did not approve wholly of the proceeding of the 
committee. 

We deem it our duty to state, that the foregoing 
information was furnished us by a member of the 
committee of conferees, and can, doubtless, be 
implicitly relied upon. — Reporter. 









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